Written in Sand
by Vivstar
Summary: Maria Carter, Samantha's friendless younger sister, finds a Tok'ra symbiote near a pond when she is being chased by bullies. She unknowingly takes it home, only to discover what it is. Maria has to find a way to get the symbiote back to it's home world.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of it's characters.

Hey, this is my first fanfic, so please r&r. The story is AU, and Maria is Samantha Carter's younger sister I made up.

Written in Sand

Maria Carter ran as fast as she could through the woods. She was being chased by this group of senior bullies from the high school, who wanted to beat her to a pulp because she had broken their stupid rule allowing the seniors to cut in any line one too many times. Her father had always told her to stand up for herself, and not let others push her around, and see where that got her?

She ran as fast as she could, jumping over big roots and rotting logs, and getting hit in the face by branches as she ran. She was going to get hopelessly lost, she realized. But she had to keep running, to get as far away from those seniors as possible. Better to be lost and in one piece than lost and hurt, she thought. She could hear the bullies catching up with her.

Ahead of her, a large pond came into view. Next to it, a dense clump of bush looked like a good place to hide. She dived behind it, then crouched down, pulling her gray hood up for camouflage. She waited, afraid to breathe.

Several moments after that, Maria saw a couple of the bullies run right past her hiding spot, and they continued on to the pond. She heard them speak as she watched them through the bushes.

"Where is she?" Asked one.

"Dunno," replied another, older looking one. "But when I find her, I'm gonna pound her ugly freshman face until she's black and blue. She's gonna be _so_ sorry she ever disrespected us!"

Maria gulped, but continued to watch. She was more afraid than ever before. The bullies looked around the area at their end of the pond, but they didn't once look at the bushes she was hiding in. One of them looked down near the edge of the water and froze.

"Holy crap! What the hell is this thing?" The boy yelled. The other boy came over next to him and swore, staring down at the ground. Maria couldn't see what it was they were looking at, although she wished she could. Anything that distracted those bullies from her had to be _really _weird.

"I've never seen anything like it! It looks kind of like a snake with fins and gills. And what the heck is that on its' head? Looks really sharp or something."

"Maybe if we capture it, we could sell it to some group of scientists and get really rich. What do you think?" The boy picked up a stick.

"Yeah! And we'd be famous too! Forget the girl, she's probably gone home, cryin' to her momma. I'll open my backpack, and you pick it up with that stick."

The boy who had spoken took off his backpack, then swore angrily. "Hurry up, idiot! It's trying to get back to the water!"

You go, fish thing, Maria thought. She wouldn't want to be captured either. She watched as the boys scrambled to catch the creature. The boys let out cries of surprise when it started hopping around to avoid the stick and backpack they kept trying to get it with. It made frantic high-pitched shrieking noises that hurt Maria's ears. Poor thing, she thought. It was probably terrified. Like she was. She suddenly felt tired, emotionally tired. Tired of being afraid of those seniors all year, of taking their 'I'm – better – than- you- so - shut - up' crap. She suddenly wanted to do something about it. She wanted to help the poor creature. But how? She had a simple plan of action: wing it and hope it worked. And she needed to act soon, the creature's jumps were getting smaller and slower, a sign that it was getting tired.

She stood up stepped out of the bushes slowly. She was going to distract the boys from the creature long enough for it to escape, and then she'd run. That was basically where her plan stopped.

"Hey you!" She called. The boys stopped what they were doing and looked over at her in surprise. Maria got a good look at the creature, which, at the sound of her voice, had laid down in the mud, defeated. It really was strange. Just like that boy had said.

"Leave that thing alone! It's me you want, remember?" She sounded braver than she felt. She stood where she was, waiting to see what they would do.

The older boy stepped toward her, dropping his backpack. "You mind your own business, chick. We're seniors, so we tell you what to do, and you do it. Got that?"

Maria shook her head defiantly. "No, I don't get it. You may be a senior, but you have the brain of a toddler. You think the world revolves around you, but it doesn't. I won't let you hurt that creature." Maria could hardly believe what she was saying.

That did it for both of the boys. The older one charged her, but he hadn't gone three feet when he stopped and let out a howl of pain. He looked down at his leg, and saw the creature slithering away from him. There was blood on his ankle. A lot of it. The creature had bitten him! It was almost like it was trying to help her! Strange, she thought, but cool just the same.

The other boy stood there looking scared. The boy who'd been bitten tried to step on the creature, but it easily dodged it. So the bully came after her again, while the creature cornered his friend. It was almost funny for such a big guy to be so afraid of something so small. But she didn't have time to laugh. She ducked as he swung a punch at her, and he wound up hitting a tree instead. But Maria wasn't ready when he kicked her, right in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of her, and she fell over, gasping for air. He raised his foot to kick her again, but stopped when the other boy let out a girlish scream.

"Toby! Get this damn thing off of me!" He waved his left arm frantically. Maria smiled weakly when she saw that the creature had bitten his arm and was holding on tightly. Way to go, fish thing!

But the boy finally sent the creature sailing into a tree, where it fell to the ground. It let out a small, weak noise and stayed where it was. The boy's arm was covered in blood. That thing had some sharp teeth, or fangs, or whatever.

The older boy took the opportunity while she was distracted and kicked her in the chest, harder than before. It knocked the breath out of her again, and sent her rolling down the small, yet rocky slope behind her.

But he didn't chase after her. "You haven't seen the last of us! We'll be back, and next time you won't have your freaky friend to help you!" As Maria got to her feet, she saw that the bullies were running away. Probably to nurse those bites. That must have hurt, she thought. But she didn't feel sorry for them at all, not one bit. They deserved it.

She remembered the creature and what had happened to it. She hoped it was alright. Walking over to it, she saw that it was conscious and moving quickly. But not toward the water. It was moving it's tail through the mud. Maybe it was trying to burrow or something.

"I won't hurt you," she told the creature, afraid of being bitten. As she got closer, she saw that it was _writing_ something in the mud. What the heck? _How could it do that?-!_ Maria stood there, watching, frozen in shock as it finished.

It had written: **Please help me.**

Maria stood there, too shocked and surprised to speak. What the heck was she supposed to do?

Thanks for reading! I'll update soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

This is chapter two! I worked really hard on this, so I hope that you enjoy it! By the way, bold letters means that the creature is writing something.

Maria stared down at the creature and what it had written. Could it understand her? Was it really that intelligent, or did someone train it to do that? Only one way to find out.

"You can understand me?" She waited to see what the creature would do. It immediately started writing in the mud again, directly underneath it's first message.

"**Yes I can. Now will you help me?**" That was it's answer. How was she going to help it, anyway?

"What are you?" She persisted. "And what exactly am I supposed to help you with? To get back in the pond?" Maria looked over her shoulder back to the pond as she spoke. The creature smoothed the mud over with it's body so that it would have more room to write before it answered.

"**Not to the water, it is polluted. I can no longer survive there.**" It smoothed over the mud again, then continued.

"**I am Selmak of the Tok'ra. Please understand that if the circumstances were any different, I would not be telling you this. That is all I am willing to say here at this time about that. I do not believe either of us to be safe here now. You must help me get to Stargate Command, and then I will be able to get back to my people, and continue to fight against the Goa'uld.**"

To write all of that, Selmak had to smooth over the words five times. All that did was confuse Maria even more.

"What the heck are the Tok'ra and the Goa'uld? And not to mention Stargate Command? I have no idea what in the world you're talk-" She corrected herself. "Writing about." With the way it moved its body after she said that, she could tell that was tired, and maybe a little frustrated or something. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Selmak.

"**I will not tell you what you ask for until we are somewhere else. All I ask now is that you trust me. By the way, what is your name? I know that it cannot be "chick," yes?**"

Was that a joke? Maria, unsure, answered it.

"My name is Maria. And I've decided to help you, but you have to answer one more question."

At hearing her statement that she had decided to help, Selmak made a small jump that looked happy, and made a short, high pitched noise that hurt her ears again. She winced.

"And you can't make that noise anymore when I'm around, okay? It hurts my ears. Here's my question, and even though I think it sounds a little stupid, I'm asking just to be sure. Are you an alien?" She waited to see what it's answer would be.

Selmak smoothed over the mud again. "**That is what you call beings from another world, yes?**"

Maria nodded.

"**Then yes, I am, in fact, an alien.**"

What planet was he from? Maria had decided to help it, but how? Did Selmak expect her to bring it home with her?

"Do you want me to bring you home with me? Is that what you're trying to say?" She had to know, before the idea got into it's head that she could bring it straight to where it wanted to go.

It answered immediately. "**Yes, that would be good, for now. As long as I am not discovered by your mother and father.**"

"My mom died when I was little, and I haven't seen my dad for months. I live with my sister, but she's gone a lot, too. So you have nothing to worry about." She tried to make it sound casual, even though it still hurt to think about her parents and sister, and how often she was alone at home.

Selmak started writing again. "** I'm sorry, Maria.**" That was all it wrote, a simple apology.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Maria suddenly realized that she had no idea how she was going to get Selmak home.

" I've got one more problem here. How am I supposed to get you home? No offense, but after seeing you bite those boys, I'm kind of afraid to carry you."

"**None taken. I only bite when I'm angry and provoked. Although I do understand your fear.**" It smoothed over the words again. "**But if you don't want to carry me in your hands, what about the pack you have on your back? Is there enough room for me in it?**"

Maria wondered why she hadn't thought of that. She took off her backpack and set it on the ground next to Selmak. Unzipping it, she saw that there was just enough room for Selmak to crawl inside. She smiled.

"Yes, Selmak, there's room for you. Just don't get squished by the two textbooks that are already in there. Here, just crawl inside. I'll hold it open for you."

Selmak smoothed over his last message. "**Thank you, Maria. Your kindness to me will not be forgotten by the Tok'ra.**" He slid over the message again until it was completely gone, then slithered right into her backpack, and Maria watched as Selmak curled up on top of the textbooks, then looked up at her. It was almost cute looking.

"I'm going to leave the zipper open just a little so you can breath, okay?"

As she zipped up the backpack all the way, except for a small space, she thought she heard a purring noise come from Selmak.

"Are you purring?" As if in response, Selmak did it again. Maria smiled. Okay,_ that _was cute, in a way.

"By the way, you still have a lot of explaining to do when we get home," she told him as she started to make her way back home, out of the forest.

Again, thanks for reading! Remember to review, please!

natslou: Yes, Jacob is part of the Tok'ra, and Sam is part of the SGC. If you keep reading, you'll find out why Jacob and Selmak are separated.

Thanks for all of the reviews! It's good to know that you like my work. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG-1 or any of its characters.

The third chapter is here!

What must have been half an hour later, Maria finally found her way out of the forest. Now all she had to do was sneak in through the back door and for once hope her sister wasn't home. It had just gotten dark. The reason she came out so close to her home was because, when the bullies were chasing her, she didn't have any time to stop, dig her key out of her pocket, unlock the door, shut it, and lock it again. By the time she would've had her key out, the senior bullies would have already grabbed her. She'd had to run right past her own house.

But now she was safe, at least until Monday anyway. She stopped at the back door, got her key out, and unlocked it. Once she was inside, she was relieved to see that all of the lights were off, a sign that her sister wasn't home. She turned on several of the lights as she walked through the house up to her room. She wondered what in the world she was going to do with Selmak. Apparently, from what she'd seen, Selmak could survive both on land and on water. But she figured, because Selmak had been hiding in a pond, that water was the preferred element. She'd have to ask it(she still wasn't sure what gender Selmak would be) later, when she found that old fish tank they never used and got it settled. She had a ton of questions for Selmak, and she hoped that he would be willing to answer. But if Selmak did go back on its word, then she could always threaten to take it back to the pond where she had found it or something. For now, though, she trusted Selmak.

Once she was in her room, she carefully set her backpack down on her bed and unzipped it. Selmak was just like he had been before, curled up on top of her textbooks, waiting. It looked up at her expectantly. She needed to ask it if the fish tank she had in mind would be okay for it to stay in.

"Selmak, the only container I have that could possibly be big enough for you is this fish tank. It's about this big," Maria gestured the size of the tank with her hands. " Is that a big enough size for you?"

Maria realized that Selmak had no way to answer her question, because there was no mud or dirt for it to write in.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you can't answer me. I've got an idea. Just stay where you are if your answer is no. To say yes, then sort of poke your head out of the backpack." She waited for his response. If it was a no, then she would have a problem.

To her relief, Selmak raised his head out of the backpack, then settled back down, probably to wait for her to get the tank. She grinned.

"I'll be right back, okay Selmak? I have to go find that tank, then fill it with water and haul it back here. It won't take long, I think." She wondered if it was comfortable in her backpack. It probably wasn't, with how it had to curl up on those hard textbooks.

"And if you want to, you can go ahead and just climb out of my backpack and wait on the bed. I know that it can't exactly be comfortable in there."

Selmak immediately slithered out of the backpack and curled up near a corner of the bed. She hoped that it would get comfy, just not so comfy that it wouldn't want to get in the tank when she got back.

"I'll be right back," she promised again, and walked out the door, then up the stairs to the attic. The attic was mess, filled with all of their old junk. This could actually take longer than expected.

Selmak's point of view:

Selmak was relieved, and both worried at the same time. A strange combination that he wasn't used to feeling, even after living two thousand years. He uncurled himself, wanting to get a better look at the room he was in.

The room was painted white, but large parts of the walls had pictures of people, mostly male teenage Tau'ri, that he had never seen before. Were they important people on this world? The Tau'ri home world had changed much in the decades he'd been gone. All he'd seen of the Tau'ri world recently was what was in the Stargate Command Base, and, he admitted to himself, he was curious to see what the everyday life of a Tau'ri was. Maybe now he'd get his wish.

There was a bookshelf on one wall as well, filled almost completely by books. Not the big, heavy books he was used to seeing on the base.(And in Maria's backpack.) These books were smaller, had more color and life to them, and looked much younger. He wondered what topics they were on.

There was a desk in one corner of the room. It had a lamp on it, and a computer. He vaguely wondered where the tank he was to be in was to go. He hoped not on the floor, but there was no room on the desk for the size tank Maria had described. Oh, well, he thought. Beggars can't be choosers. He tried to estimate how long he would be here.

He needed to focus, to stay on the task at hand, he thought suddenly. He needed to get back to his own people, and his host, Jacob. But in order to do that, he realized, he'd have to tell Maria everything in order to get back to Stargate Command, which would probably take some time, and might even put her in danger. He'd just have to make the most of what he had, then, and hope Maria didn't get into trouble with any of those, what had O'Neil called them? NIS guys? From what he'd been told, they were always making trouble for the SGC, and would jump at the chance to shut the Stargate down. He just hoped they wouldn't bother Maria, who had enough trouble with those boys back in the forest.

He looked around the room again, and noticed a picture in a frame on a table next to the bed. He slithered over to it to see who it was this time. This picture was different from the others. There were no boys in it, just two females. One appeared to be a younger Maria, and next to her was a much older woman, who looked a lot like her, with long blond hair, the same eyes and skin tone. It must be her mother, he realized. He remembered what Maria had said about her family. She must be alone often, he thought, feeling a little guilty for wanting to leave so fast. He slithered away and curled up in the same corner he had been in before. He had heard Maria's footsteps coming closer, and he did not want to be accused of being a snoop. _Which he wasn't._

He raised his head when Maria came back in the room, pushing the water-filled tank ahead of her. It looked heavy. She couldn't possibly lift it for more than a few seconds, so the floor looked like where he was going to be. The tank was big, about three and a half feet long, and about one to two feet high. A good size tank for him, he thought, since he was only a foot long himself. He watched as she pushed the tank into one corner of the room, so that it would be hidden from sight by the bed. He noticed that there was something on the bottom of the tank. He realized what it was. Sand! That girl was clever. So that solved the communication problem.

He slithered off the bed and over to the tank when Maria had stood up and looked at him. She lifted the lid, and he slithered inside without hesitation. That was much better. If he had lips, he would have been smiling. He inspected his new, temporary home. It was clean, spacious, perfect for a symbiote like him. Then he moved his tail through the sand to write the words: **"Thank you, Maria. Do you want me to begin to explain what you asked for earlier, as was our agreement?"**

The reason he asked that was because he had seen her yawn while he had been inspecting the tank. It must be late, he thought. He waited to hear her answer.

Maria thought about Selmak's question, then shook her head.

"Do you think that it could wait until tomorrow? I'm tired. I think we both kind of need to chill out for tonight."

Selmak cocked his head to the side, then wrote his answer.

"**I could tell you tomorrow, certainly. But I have one last question. What do you mean by "chill out"? I've never heard that before.**"

Maria thought for a minute on how to explain what she meant. She could never remember ever having to explain something like that before.

"It means, to, like, take a break, to rest, you know?" That was the best way she could explain it.

"**I see,**" he answered. "**Very well, then. Goodnight. Sleep well.**"

"You too, Selmak."

Maria watched as Selmak curled up in the sand at the bottom of the tank, then she went and dug her night cloths out of the dresser, walked to the bathroom, and changed. She came back, and when she got into bed, she was almost asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

Outside, the stars shown brightly in the dark night sky, and just from looking at them, one would never know that a war hundreds of years old was being fought up there.

I'll update as soon as I can!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

This is the fourth chapter! I'm so excited! (This is my first fanfic, so please review.) :)

Selmak's point of view:

The Tok'ra symbiote watched from his position on the tank floor as his newfound Tau'ri friend fell asleep almost immediately as she had laid down. He, too, was tired, but sleep would not come for some reason. So he let his mind drift for awhile.

He remembered the picture on the table next to Maria's bed, and realized that Maria's mother, and Maria herself, looked very familiar. He realized who it reminded him of: Samantha Carter, the daughter of his host, Jacob. Jacob had mentioned that he had a younger daughter, but he never had the chance to tell him more about her. Selmak wondered if there was any possibility that Maria could be related to Jacob. His hopes soared for a moment, then fell. The Tau'ri world was huge. Jacob had told him that the population was somewhere around six billion people, and that it was growing rapidly. What chance did he have of finding his only daughter among that many people? Not much, that was his guess. He figured that to find out, all he would have to do was ask Maria what her last name was.

He watched as Maria turned over in her sleep. Related to Jacob Carter or not, he was sure that Maria would find some way to help him out. Help from a civilian was better than no help at all. He really hoped that no one would harm or threaten Maria because of him and what he was going to tell her. Like those NIS people. He was really starting to like Maria, for some reason.

He thought of that phrase Maria said. "Chill out." The Tau 'ri language English had changed much, especially in the last century. It was...colorful. But phrases like that were still hard for him to understand, Selmak thought. If there were many more phrases or slangs like that, he'd need Maria to explain what they meant, and that, he knew, would be hard on his pride. He was considered the oldest and the wisest amongst the Tok'ra, but he couldn't even figure out a simple phrase like "chill out." If the other Tok'ra learned... he'd die from the embarrassment. He planned to establish one rule with Maria tomorrow. It was similar to another phrase Jacob had told him once. What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico. That was what Jacob had said. But Selmak changed it to: What is written in the tank, stays in the tank. He figured that was pretty clever. He knew that Maria would probably understand what he meant by that.

Selmak pondered about exactly how much he needed to tell Maria. He could just explain the basics, he thought, just tell her the difference between the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra. And explain the Stargate to her, just in case she somehow wound up having to go through it. But he doubted that she would. What he hoped to happen was something like, as Jacob once said to him on a different matter was that Maria would "drop him off" near the Stargate Command, and then she would return home. But he knew that most likely would not be the case, with how everything was highly confidential. Civilian Tau'ri were apparently not supposed to know anything about the Stargate, much less the Tok'ra, She would probably be interrogated. He hoped it would be someone from SG-1, or General Hammond himself. Someone he knew who would never threaten someone like Maria.

For some reason, he felt some kind of connection between Maria and himself, but he couldn't figure out why. And, because of that connection, he decided that he would tell Maria everything he knew. At least, everything that he could actually explain in a way she would understand. He could only hope that she would not tell anyone else what he told her. But he trusted her, he decided.

He felt himself start to get tired, and he curled up on the bottom of the tank again. He could finally catch up on some much needed sleep, which he hadn't had much of for the past few days. His last thoughts were on his host. Selmak wondered how Jacob was doing without him. Had their plan worked? He vaguely realized that he'd have to tell Maria about what the plan was, too, as he drifted off to sleep.

Samantha Carter's point of view (the next morning) :

Samantha Carter awoke to the sound of sirens blaring, and the warning being issued over the intercom. "Unscheduled incoming traveler," was repeated several times. She'd fallen asleep at her desk again, she realized as she quickly stood up out of her chair and ran to the control room.

When she arrived, she saw that Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, and Danial were already there, as well as General Hammond.

The man at the control desk looked at his computer, frowned, and then looked over at General Hammond, surprise written all over his face.

"Sir, it's the Tok'ra!"

General Hammond immediately gave the command to open the iris. As Samantha watched, she hoped that her father would be one of the Tok'ra that were coming. She missed him, and hadn't seen him in awhile.

Just moments after the iris opened, she got her wish. Martouf, Garshaw, and her father, Jacob, stepped through the gate and onto the ramp. Samantha and the rest of SG-1 followed General Hammond down to the gate room to greet them.

"Dad!" She called when he spotted her. He looked over at her and grinned, but something about the way the others were looking, she could tell that something had happened. Martouf also smiled when he saw her. Garshaw looked worried.

General Hammond stepped forward. "Good to see you all again. To what do we owe the honor of this unexpected visit?" He and Jacob shook hands warmly.

As usual, Jacob found a way to get straight to the point.

"George, we have a problem. A big one." As he spoke, Martouf and Garshaw walked forward to stand directly next to Jacob, one on either side of him.

"What is it, Jacob?" General Hammond looked concerned. Jacob was about to answer when Garshaw spoke before he could.

"May we discuss this somewhere more private, please? We must keep as few people from having this information as possible."

General Hammond blinked in surprise. "Of course. We'll discuss this in the de-briefing room. SG-1, come with me."

They all headed to the de-briefing room quickly. Jacob caught up with Samantha and clasped one hand on her shoulder, and even though he smiled, he looked worried.

"Hey there kiddo. It's good to see you. How are you?"

Samantha smiled. "I'm doing just fine. What about Selmak?"

At this, Jacob frowned. Oh, no, she thought, very worried. What had happened?

"Well, kid, that's exactly the problem. I'll tell everyone about it when we get to where we're going. But for now, how's Maria doing? I haven't seen her in, what, months? I really miss her."

Samantha remembered her younger sister and let out a worried gasp. She had fallen asleep at the base and had forgotten to go home. She'd forgotten about her own sister! Well, it wasn't like this was the first time it had happened, she thought. But still...

"What is it? Is she doing okay?" Jacob bit his lip, worried.

Samantha hurried to reassure him. "Oh, no. She's doing great. I just fell asleep here last night by accident instead of going home like I usually do," she admitted. Her father looked at her disapprovingly.

"Sam, _she's your sister_. You can't just-" But he was cut off by General Hammond as they reached the de-briefing room.

"Would everyone please take a seat. Now would somebody please explain to us what this problem of yours is? We'll assist you as best we can."

"General Hammond," Martouf began as he sat down between Garshaw and Jacob. "This is a long, and... very complicated story to explain. And what we will ask of you will take much time."

Garshaw spoke up. "Yes, and it is very urgent that you understand our situation as soon as possible." She sounded rather impatient.

"Then let's get to it, shall we?" General Hammond leaned forward, a sign that he was listening.

"I think I should be the one to explain," Jacob said quickly, before either Garshaw or Martouf could begin.

Garshaw and Martouf nodded in understanding, and Jacob started to explain what happened the best way he could.

That's the end of the fourth chapter! In the next chapter, you, my faithful readers, will finally know why Jacob and Selmak are separated. And give me more reviews, please! I need more reviews. Merci boucup.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

Chapter five is up! Now you get to see why Jacob and Selmak are separated.

Samantha Carter's point of view:

Samantha Carter listened as her father finished his story, but still found what he said kind of hard to believe. The Tok'ra could come up with some pretty amazing plans when they had to. General Hammond was still a little confused, though.

"So let me get this straight, one last time, Jacob. Why does Apophis specifically want you and Selmak dead?"

"Because Selmak is the oldest and the wisest of the Tok'ra. It's him that's lead to the many victories the Tok'ra has had over Apophis for almost two thousand years. Apophis believes that without Selmak, the Tok'ra would no longer be a real threat to him. Normally, we would've ignored whatever he ordered us to do, but then we realized that if he thought us to be no longer a threat, and therefore not a major target, it would give us more time to come up with new plans, new ways to defeat him. And we also learned from an informer of ours on one of Apophis's mother ships that the goa'uld still believe that a symbiote can't separate from a host without killing them both. This, as we all know, is wrong. So we figured out that we'd just have to make it _look_ like I was dead. Selmak too. So we decided to separate. But then we found out that Apophis wanted to see my body as proof of my death. So we answered back to Apophis, saying that they would send him my body, on the one condition: that my body was not to be harmed, and was to be returned exactly one hour after the Tok'ra sent me through the gate. I know that it's hard to believe that Apophis actually did what we told him to, but he did. Our plan worked. Now we aren't a prime target of Apophis, at least for a while." Jacob patiently explained the story again.

"What happened to Selmak?" Danial asked, looking curious.

"In order to make it seem like he was dead, we had a sort of fake funeral for him, for lack of a better word, when we knew Apophis was watching us from his ship. Then we sent him off in, I guess you could call it an escape pod of sorts, only symbiote size. We charted the coordinates for Earth in the escape pod's autopilot. It was supposed to land somewhere in Colorado, so that he could be found again without having to search the entire world for him. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly where in Colorado the escape pod landed, so we need your help to find him. But we do have one lead. We believe that to search around ponds, lakes, even rivers, or any natural water source would be our best bet to find him. That's where he is the most likely to hide, since it would give him everything he needed to survive," Jacob answered again.

"What if he didn't land near any of those?" For once, Colonel O'Neil was completely serious.

"Then we will search elsewhere until we find him." Garshaw answered him. Samantha now understood why she looked so worried.

General Hammond seemed to be busy thinking, and what felt like an hour later, he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, people, but I can only issue a search around the perimeter of these mountains. But the entire Colorado state is way out of our jurisdiction. I understand your situation, I really do. And I am deeply sorry that I can't do more than that to help."

Garshaw finally seemed to lose her self control. She stood up angrily.

"But you _must_! We have to find him! And if _your_ people are not able to search, than _we_ will! We will find him- no matter what we must do!" She was about to go on when Jacob put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

Garshaw managed to recompose herself, and she sat down again.

"I-I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "I'm just so worried about Selmak. I understand that you will do all that you can, General Hammond."

"It's alright, Garshaw, we'll find him," General Hammond tried to reassure her. "I'll make the order right now to start searching." He stood up and left the room quickly to call the order into the intercom.

Teal'c finally spoke.

"What will Selmak do if we do not find him quickly enough?"

This time Martouf was the one who answered.

"Selmak will most likely either find a host, as did Jolinar, and try to make his way here, or he will simply continue to wait wherever he is."

Samantha nodded in agreement. That sounded like what he would do. She remembered what Garshaw had said about searching for Selmak even if they had to do it on there own. That gave her an idea.

"I think I just found our solution to our problem with searching for Selmak," she told them. She immediately had Garshaw's, Martouf's, and her father's full attention.

"What is your solution?" Martouf asked, looking a little more hopeful.

"Well, what if we just went to the main water sources on our own? We don't need to involve anyone other than us. We could just split up and search separately, to make it look like we're just civilians on vacation or something. Does that make sense?" She was a little unsure about her plan.

Garshaw actually smiled, while Martouf and her father grinned.

"Yes, I do believe that would work. There would be less searchers, but a larger search area." Garshaw readily agreed. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, on vacation. I like the sound of that," Colonel O'Neil was back to being himself again.

"Me too, Sir." Samantha Carter agreed.

Her father spoke up. "Great idea, kid."

Samantha smiled, glad to have been the one who came up with the plan. But at the same time, as she looked at her father again as he talked to Martouf in another language, that she'd have to come up with another plan. She really needed to come up with a plan that would help her balance her job and her sister, Maria. Maria always got upset whenever she didn't come home for some reason.

Little did she know, that for once, she was wrong.

That's the fifth chapter. Tell me if you liked it. (in a review. hint hint.) Sorry that there's not a lot of action yet, but I promise that there will be more soon. The plot in this fic is kind of slow moving, for now.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

Chapter six! How do you like my story so far?

Maria Carter's point of view:

Maria Carter woke up at about eight thirty in the morning to the feeling of her stomach growling. She realized that she'd forgotten to eat last night because of everything that had happened, with Selmak and all. She looked inside the tank from her position on her bed and studied Selmak. It looked like it was still asleep.

Better leave it alone until it wakes up, she thought, getting up. She walked rather sleepily over to her closet and put on a robe, since she had company, in a way. Then she continued out of her room and downstairs to the kitchen to see what they had left for breakfast. Sam hadn't gone shopping for awhile, since she was so busy with her job. Whatever it was. She was pretty sure that it had something to do with the military somehow. Maria didn't have much money, either, since it had also been some time since Sam had remembered to give her her allowance. But Maria wasn't angry with her at all. When someone was to busy, they were too busy, right?

Once she was in the kitchen, she looked through the pantry for cereal, which, by some miracle, was actually there. The only cereal that was left was Honey Bunches of Oats, but she was too hungry to care. She got the milk out of the fridge, which was almost to the expiration date.

Ten minutes later, when she finished, she headed back upstairs. When she got back to her room, she looked into the the tank, and saw that Selmak had finally woken up.

"**Good morning**," Selmak wrote. "**Sleep well?**"

"Yeah, I slept like a rock," she answered. "By the way, are you hungry? She had no idea what in the world a creature like Selmak ate.

"**Yes, very much,**" Selmak replied. It looked a bit better than It had yesterday, more energetic. That was good. She felt better, too, except for where Toby had kicked her in the chest, and the stomach.

"What do you eat?" She asked. Whatever it was, she was pretty sure that it would be hard for her to get. Like algae or something.

"**I can survive on the algae that is on the sides of this tank, for now.**" That was it? She was relieved, and yet a little annoyed. There was algae in the tank?

"Hey! I cleaned that tank really well!" She was definitely not a morning person.

"**Calm yourself. The algae is too small for you to see, but I can see it. And after I eat, I will explain everything to you, yes?**" Selmak had a way of sounding very patient. Maria wondered where it had learned patience like that, then she'd go there.

She nodded in agreement, then watched as Selmak moved across the tank, his mouth barely touching the sides of it. It was interesting to watch, and it reminded Maria of those bottom feeder fish she'd seen in an aquarium once. Cool.

Several minutes later, he stopped, then looked up at her.

"**Are you ready for me to begin?**** It is a long story, so it will take some time to explain it all to you. I will try my best to summarize it, though. But before I begin, you must promise me that you will not tell anyone, not even your sister,**" he told her. Whatever she was about to hear, it must be really big, she thought.

"Yeah, I promise," she answered. Then Selmak began to explain.

"I will start by explaining who the Tok'ra are, then I will explain the difference between the Tok'ra, which I am a part of, and the Goa'uld. Then I will explain about Stargate Command.

**The Tok'ra are the most hated enemy of the Goa'uld. We've been fighting them for more than a thousand years. We are the resistance. We are symbiotic creatures who live inside willing tau'ri, or human, hosts. We share the body equally in a truly symbiotic relationship. What the my host feels, I feel. And what I feel, my host feels.**

**The Goa'uld are much different than us. They take hosts by force, entering through the back of the neck, while we, the Tok'ra, enter through the mouth. They then take over the host's body, and control them. Their hosts are never allowed to speak, they are slaves for however long the Goa'uld lives. Which, in some cases, can be hundreds, maybe even more than a thousand years. They pose as Egyptian gods and goddesses, but they also pose as the gods of other religions. Their goal is power, to rule all known galaxies. They are arrogant, which has lead to many of their defeats. **

**Do you understand all of this? I know that it is a lot to comprehend in such a short amount of time,**" he checked up on her.

Holy Hannah! Wow, she thought, this is _amazing_. It was almost too hard to believe. She almost didn't.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Are you done explaining the Goa'uld?" Selmak sounded like his kind had a lot of hatred for these Goa'uld. And vice versa. The thought of being a host to something like- like _them_, when she wasn't willing, sounded horrible. Like a fate worse than death. To be trapped like that for so long... like an unending nightmare.

Selmak continued.

"**Not quite. The Goa'uld have destroyed many planets in the past, and many planets now are major targets. Many innocent lives have been lost because of them. We, the Tok'ra, are a major threat to them.**

**About Stargate Command-**" But Maria cut him off.

"Wait, I have a question," and she leaned closer to the tank, like she was afraid of being overheard by someone. "Is Earth a major target?"

"**Yes.**" Selmak answered her question simply. "**Now, back to Stargate Command. About fifty years ago, your explorers found the Stargate, as your people call it. We call it the Chappa'ai. It has the ability to create wormholes to other planets, far out of your solar system. Right now the people at the Stargate Command are using it to find the technology to defeat the Goa'uld permanently.**

**And one more thing about the Tok'ra. We do not use weapons and technology other than what we already have, because we are infiltrators, spies. Our plan is to destroy the Goa'uld from the inside,**" Selmak paused there for a moment, sounding kind of proud about their plan.

"That's a good plan," Maria commented.

"**Thank you,**" Selmak answered. "**I think that I have covered most of what you need to know. If I remember something later, you can be sure that I will tell you. Do you have any more questions?**" He cocked his head to the side and waited.

Maria was too shocked to really think of any important questions, except for three.

"Actually," she began. "I do. I hope you don't mind me asking you this, but are you a male or a female? I've been wondering about that ever since I found you."

Selmak answered immediately.

"**Ah, yes, I almost forgot. Symbiotic creatures like me do not have a gender. But I do think of myself as a male, considering the fact that my host is male.**"

"How old are you?"

"Almost two thousand of your years," he answered.

Holy Hannah! He'd been around since biblical times! Talk about being old and wise, huh?

Selmak must've seen the shock and amazement on her face.

"**Yes, that is quite old, isn't it? Do you have any more questions?**"

"Yes," Maria answered. "Just one. Selmak," she began, "where is your host?"

Selmak was quiet for awhile, and Maria began to worry that she'd said something wrong.

"Selmak?" She asked.

"**I do not know where my host is. But I know I will be able to find him once I get to Stargate Command.**" He finally answered.

Poor Selmak. He must be worried, she realized.

**"**You must miss him," she said softly.

"**Yes,**" he wrote. "**I do miss him, more than you can ever know.**" He answered, then continued.

"**Maria, there is at least one more thing you must understand. When a Symbiote and a human host blend, or come together, it creates an instant bond between us. That bond stays with us constantly. It will **_**never**_** be broken. That is why I miss him so. We are one, even now. Do you understand what I am saying?**" His explanation was deep.

"I understand, Selmak," Maria answered. Both of them were quiet for awhile after that.

Well, folks, now you know! I love all of your reviews, so thanks a lot! I'll update soon.

By the way, did I spell chappa'ai correctly? If someone could tell me, that would be a great help!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

The lucky chapter number seven! Now we're really getting somewhere.

Holy Hannah! When Maria finally got her mind wrapped around the hugeness of what Selmak had told her, she felt, oddly, very small. And slightly overwhelmed. Traveling to other worlds, a war over one thousand years old, symbiotic creatures living in humans... It was truly amazing, and yet, worrying. Earth was a major target? Why? And how in the world was she supposed to get to Stargate Command? She had absolutely no idea where it was.

"Selmak," she asked several moments later, "You never did tell me where Stargate Command is. Do you even have any idea where it is? Because I don't."

The symbiote began to write again. Her question seemed to have distracted him from his sadness, and she could tell by his quick answer that he was grateful for a change in subject.

"**I only know that Stargate Command is hidden in one of this state's mountain ranges. The Cheyenne Mountains, I think.**"

Like that was a lot of help. She'd heard of the Cheyenne Mountains before, but she still didn't have a clue as to wherever they were.

"I've heard of them, but I still don't know where they are. I don't suppose you'd know where they are, do you?"

"**No, I don't. I've never been outside of Stargate Command before. We must stay on the base whenever we come, to keep everything confidential.**"

Maria thought a minute, then suddenly bent down and pulled her Atlas that she used in school out of her backpack.

"Do you think that they'd show up on a map?" She laid the book on her desk and flipped the pages until she came to the pages that had the United States on it, with each state shown. Yeah, now they might actually be getting somewhere. She looked down at Selmak's answer.

"**I suppose it would, but since I haven't seen a two-dimensional map like that in more than five hundred years, I doubt that I would be much help to you in locating it.**"

At that remark, Maria paused before she went back to looking. She remembered what he had said about his age, which was still hard for her to believe. She studied him for a moment.

"**What is it? Why do you keep staring at me?**" He asked, his body language telling her that he was confused.

"Are you seriously almost two thousand years old?" She wanted to be sure that he wasn't just joking or something.

He answered immediately.

"**Yes, I am. Seriously.**" She decided to just take his word for it.

Maria could tell by his short answer that he was anxious for her to continue. Which she did.

Several minutes later, she slammed the Atlas shut angrily. Frustrated, she finally realized that the Atlas she'd been using wasn't geographical, or physical, or whatever the kind she needed was called. This Atlas only had major countries, cities, and other things nobody cared about.

"I can't use this! I need something else that has landforms and stuff in it. Maybe if I search online I'll actually find what I need," she said that last sentence more to herself than to Selmak.

Wordlessly, she pulled her laptop out of her backpack, set it on the desk on top of the Atlas and turned it on. It had plenty of power left.

After it booted up, she quickly got online and typed in the words: map of Cheyenne Mountains, Colorado; in the Goggle search.

It came up with over one thousand two hundred search results.

"This is going to take awhile," she told Selmak.

Samantha Carter's point of view(on the base.):

Samantha Carter picked up her purse off of her desk and started to head out of her office when her father walked through the door. He'd probably come to fuss at her over her sister. She braced herself for whatever lecture he was going to give her.

"Sam," he began, "I didn't mean to sound angry earlier, about Maria, that is. But please, don't let it happen again. I know that she may look like she's doing fine on her own, Sam, but she may need you. I need you to care and be there for her, since I can't. I miss her, Sam, I truly do. And I miss you too. Now I sound all sappy, don't I?"

Samantha smiled. "Yeah, Dad, you are starting to get sappy. And I'm trying my best to take care of Maria, I really am. But I'm not exactly the best mother in the world, and I'm so busy here," she answered.

"I know you are, kid. But you don't have to be a mother, just be yourself." He was about to change the subject when Samantha spoke.

"I was just going to ask General Hammond for the rest of the day off so that I could check up on her," she explained.

"Good," Jacob answered. "Wish I could go and see her, but I know what a small chance I have of being let out of the base for any other reason besides searching for Selmak." He looked kind of sad, talking about it.

"Have you asked General Hammond if you could go in disguise?" Samantha knew that that plan wouldn't work either, but it was worth it to see that it cheered her father up.

He grinned. "No, but if I went in disguise, what would I wear? A clown suit?"

They both laughed at the thought of him in a clown suit. That was something Samantha almost couldn't picture. But what they could picture was hilarious.

"I better go ask General Hammond before he puts me on one of the search teams," she said suddenly. "Not that I don't care about Selmak, Dad, but I just don't think that there's much of a chance that the escape pod landed near the mountain," she explained.

"Me neither, kid. If she ever asks about me, would you tell her that I love her?"

"Sure," Samantha answered as they walked out of her office and down a hall that would eventually lead them to General Hammond's office. On the way they ran into Garshaw, who appeared to be heading in the same direction.

"Hello, Samantha, Jacob. Where are you headed?" She asked, looking at Jacob, then at Samantha.

"I'm going to see General Hammond and ask for the rest of the day off. I need to go and see my younger sister," Samantha explained as they walked.

"I was just headed there myself," Garshaw commented, "Will you not be joining the search for Selmak?"

"I'll be back early on Monday. I'll look then," she promised.

They arrived at General Hammond's office, and Samantha knocked. When she heard him holler "Come in!" she opened the door and entered the office. Her father stayed behind with Garshaw.

She had just enough time to hear Garshaw say, "You never told me that you had a younger daughter," before the door shut behind her. Why hadn't her father ever mentioned Maria?

"What can I do for you, Captain?" General Hammond leaned forward in his chair.

"Sir," Samantha began, "I'd like to request the rest of today off. I need to go and see my sister, Maria." She waited to hear his answer.

"Of course, Captain. You have a go. Take care," he told her.

"Thank you, Sir," she replied, and left the office. Her father was still there with Garshaw.

"Well? Did he give you permission?" Jacob looked curious. If she hadn't gotten an okay to go, what chance did he have?

Samantha nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you when I get back," and she hugged him, and he hugged her in return.

"See you later, kiddo," he said as he let her go.

"I will, Dad," she answered. She stepped back away from them, then nodded to Garshaw. Then she started down the hallway to the elevator that would take her back to the surface. From then on, she promised herself, she'd take better care of Maria, no matter what.

When she into her car and started it up, she checked out with the guard, and finally left the base.

Maria Carter's point of view:

"I found it!" Maria Carter cried triumphantly. She'd been searching for almost an hour and a half when she found exactly what she was looking for: a map that showed her where the Cheyenne Mountains were and the surrounding towns. And her town was the one nearest to them! Yes! She thought, excited. She printed the map out.

She looked over at Selmak, who had started writing something as soon as she'd first cried out.

"**You have found a map that will show us the way to Stargate Command?**" Maria noticed the excited way Selmak was moving his body.

"It shows me where the mountains are, yeah. But since there's a road leading up to them, I guess that will get us there. But if all this stuff is top secret and all that, how am I going to get you inside?"

"**Simply tell the guards that you wish to speak to General Hammond on a very urgent matter**," Selmak answered.

"And if that doesn't work?"

"**Tell them to notify General Hammond that you know of Selmak of the Tok'ra. They must listen to you then. Trust me. And, please, we must leave soon, immediately if possible.**"

But Maria looked down at herself and shook her head. She was still dressed in her night cloths and robe. She needed to change her cloths first, and write some kind of note to Samantha so she wouldn't freak out when she found Maria gone.

"Can you wait, like, fifteen more minutes? I need to get dressed and write a note to my sister, so she doesn't worry about me," Maria explained.

"**Yes,**" he answered, "**But you need to** **_hurry_**"

"Just chill out, dude. I will."

If she had looked down at him again, she would have seen what he had written:

"**This is not the time for sleeping!**"

Maria darted over to her dresser, grabbed her clothes, and ran to the bathroom to change. She changed as quickly as possible, combed her hair, and ran back to her bedroom. Then she grabbed a piece of paper, and after she thought a minute, wrote:

Sam,

I've gone to help a friend. I'll be back soon, don't worry about me.

-Maria

Yeah, that seemed like it would work, she thought. It would give her at least a couple of hours head start, if Sam decided to try and find her.

She realized that, since she couldn't drive, she'd have to ride her bike there. The whole twenty five miles, according to the map. Her legs and butt hurt just thinking about it, but she knew that she had no choice.

Then she realized that she'd have to carry Selmak inside her backpack again, so she picked it up off of the floor and took out all of her textbooks, notebooks, everything, even all of her pens and junk. Walking with a symbiotic creature in one's backpack was one thing, riding with one on a bike was completely different. The weight might shift, she thought, and then Selmak might get hurt by the textbooks, she thought.

"Okay, Selmak, I'm ready to go. I just need you to get back in the backpack. You don't have to worry about any textbooks this time, because I took them all out. Here, you can get right in," she held the backpack right next to the tank, and Selmak quickly wrote:

"**Thank you once again, Maria. I give you my word, one day I will find a way to repay you for helping me.**" And with that, Selmak slithered from the tank and directly into the backpack without a problem.

Maria looked at him to make sure he was alright as he curled up at the bottom of the backpack and looked back up at her, then she zipped it up, all except for a small hole, so he could breath. Then she carefully picked the backpack up and hoisted it on her back. She grabbed the map, the note, and twenty dollars off of her dresser as she left her room to head downstairs to the kitchen. She figured she'd need to make a

sandwich for herself. She didn't really worry about Selmak, because, she figured, that if he could eat algae, he could probably eat whatever they found as they traveled. Like bugs? She wondered for a minute as she made a turkey and cheese sandwich for herself. Maybe. She had no idea what else he could eat. Guess she'd find out eventually, she thought, as she put the sandwich in a part of the backpack that was separate from Selmak.

As she finally walked out of the back door, she stuck the note she had written to it with a piece of tape. There was no way Samantha could miss that, she thought as she locked the door with her key from the outside. She headed for the garage, where she got on her bike, then made sure that her backpack wouldn't move around to much as she gave it a test drive around the inside of the garage. Then, when she was sure that she had everything and that Selmak wasn't going to bounce around like on a roller coaster, she headed out onto the street, following the map toward the interstate. She had no idea how long this would take her, since she'd never had to ride her bike more than five miles before. But all the same, she thought, she had to do it, and she knew that the old Carter family determination would see her through.

I just realized that this is my longest chapter yet! It took me more than three hours to write, so I worked really hard on it. I hope you like it, and, as I've said before, I'll update soon. Please keep reviewing, ya'll, it makes me want to keep going, and some of you have given me some great ideas. :)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

Chapter eight! Now things will really get interesting. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially Telboriel and MuseUrania. Your reviews are the best! And now, on with the story!

Samantha Carter's point of view:

As unlikely as it would seem, just as Maria turned left off of her own neighborhood street, Samantha turned onto it. Samantha didn't see Maria at all as she turned onto the driveway and into the garage. In fact, she was so busy thinking about a way to make her unexpected absence up to Maria, that she didn't even notice that Maria's bike was gone. Samantha got out of her car and entered through the back door, not noticing the note Maria had left there, either.

"Maria?" She called, seeing that the house was quiet and none of the lights were on. "I'm back," she continued as she headed upstairs toward Maria's room. Strange, she thought, normally Maria would have the radio blasting in her room at by this time of the day.

Samantha pushed the door to Maria's room open, and saw that the lights in her room were on, as well as Maria's computer, which had fallen asleep, but Maria was nowhere in sight. Samantha was starting to get worried. Where was she?

Being the scientist that she was, she moved the mouse to wake the computer up, hoping that it would give her some kind of clue as to where Maria might have gone. But, as usual, something got in her way.

Maria's computer refused to show her what her sister had been doing. She needed a password to get in. Forget it, she thought, getting up. She didn't have any idea what the password could have been. She was about to go back downstairs when she saw the fish tank on the floor next to Maria's bed. It had water in it, as well as sand on the bottom. What the heck was that old thing doing there, she thought as she bent down to look at it.

She was totally unprepared as her ability to sense naqueda roared to life. What the... From the huge amount of naqueda she was sensing, the only possible source was from a symbiote. _Like Selmak..._ her mind automatically finished the thought. No way, she thought. This couldn't be possible... What was the chance of Selmak being found by her sister? Just about none. She grabbed a test tube from her vest pocket and filled it with water from the tank. Better take a sample and have it tested to be sure, she thought, sealing the test tube and putting it back in her pocket. But if Selmak had been here, where was he now? What if Selmak had taken Maria as a host? Even if Maria had been a willing host to Selmak, who she knew and trusted very well, she still felt a little panicked, and unnerved. And if she was unwilling, well, she knew what that was like.

But there was the distinct possibility that Maria wasn't a host to Selmak at all, but Samantha didn't give herself time to think about that as she turned, left Maria's room at a fast jog, got back downstairs, and headed for the back door again. She was just about to slam the back door open again when she saw the note taped to the door. She read the message and groaned. Like that made her feel any better, she thought sarcastically as she shoved the door open and jogged toward the garage. She needed to find Maria- and fast.

As she entered the garage, she was not very surprised to see that Maria's bike was gone as well, since she was sort of expecting it. How else was Maria going to get around, since she couldn't drive? She had a hunch, but she just hoped that she was wrong.

Deciding to go against her hunch, she figured that it would be best to drive around town for awhile, and see if she could find Maria, and, hopefully, Selmak. If she didn't, and she had to go back to the base and tell everyone what she had discovered, that would be a very slow drive to the base indeed. Her father was going to kill her, she thought, as she roared out of the driveway and into the street. And then, he would kill her again. And she deserved it for not keeping a better eye on Maria.

Selmak's point of view (in the backpack):

Selmak finally gave up on trying to sleep. It was impossible, since every so often a large jolt or bump would hit, shaking him awake. Then he would hear Maria's voice apologize to him sincerely. He knew that she couldn't help how uneven the road was.

It was almost pitch black inside the backpack, except for the single ray of light that came from the air hole that Maria had left open for him. He wondered how long this was going to take as he uncurled himself and stretched himself out. He was bored, and wished that he had a voice so that he could at least talk to Maria during the trip. He also wondered how long it would take to get to Stargate command. The device Maria was using was, apparently, man powered, and could only go as fast as Maria could make it go.

Occasionally, he'd feel Maria stop to rest, usually when they went uphill. He knew they were on hilly and uneven terrain because whenever they went uphill, he would slide to the back of the backpack, and then slide right back to where he had been before when they got to the bottom again. Another annoyance that kept him awake.

As he sat there thinking, he realized that he had forgotten several things. One thing he had forgotten was to ask Maria what her last name was, and secondly, he had forgotten to tell her the whole "What happens in the tank, stays in the tank," thing. But he figured that she knew from common sense that what she knew could not be told to anyone else. Then he realized that he'd also forgotten to explain the plan the Tok'ra had come up with, which would also explain why he wasn't with his host, Jacob. But he figured that since Maria hadn't asked about why he was apart from his host, that she hadn't either thought about it, or she thought that he didn't want to talk about it. Either way, he thought, it was a blessing to him. Moving his tail through the sand to explain everything else was very tiring, and if he had to keep writing like that for much longer, then he'd have the strongest(and the most tired) tail ever to be known among the Tok'ra.

He decided that he wouldn't bother to explain everything to her, or tell her that rule he'd made up. But if he got the chance, he'd be sure to ask her what her last name was. His curiosity was killing him.

He raised his head as he felt them slowing down again. The backpack moved differently now, like it was being moved sideways and then downward. He felt the backpack touch the ground, and Maria opened the zipper.

"I'm gonna take a break for awhile. You can come out if you want," Maria told him. She looked tired.

He slithered out of the backpack eagerly, glad to be out in the sunlight where he could see. He realized that this was his chance to ask Maria what her name was, and he decided that he would take the chance fate was offering him.

Well, that's the end of the eighth chapter. Sorry that it took so long to update, but I had a bad case of writer's block, and I was away from home for the past three days. I know that this isn't exactly my best chapter, or very long, either. I really need more reviews, folks, and I've decided that, until I get at least three more reviews, chapter nine will be on hold. I'm just kidding about that, actually. But to get more reviews would really rock. I need to know what you think so far, you know?


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG -1 or any of the characters.

Huge thank yous to all who reviewed! But I was just kidding about holding the chapter back. And so chapter nine begins! (The reason it took so long to update was that I was at the National LCMS Youth Gathering in Orlando. Anybody else go:) )

Maria Carter's point of view:

Maria watched as Selmak slithered out of her backpack and onto the ground. With the way he moved his body, she could tell that he was grateful for a break, too. They'd been on the road for almost an hour, and the hills she'd had to go over were just killing her legs. She had hidden them from the view of other people on the road behind some large bushes and shrubs a little ways into the forest. There was no possible way that she would be able to get to Stargate Command before nightfall. They'd have to spend the night out here, in the middle of nowhere. Maria really wished that she had packed more than one sandwich, and a flashlight. She sat down and leaned her back against a tree.

Selmak began to write something in the dirt once he had stretched out for a minute.

"**Maria,**" he began. "**I've been meaning to ask you something, but I haven't had a chance until now. What is your last name?**" He waited patiently for her answer, not daring to hope. What were the chances of Maria being Jacob's youngest daughter?

"Uh, Carter. Why?" Maria answered, clueless as to how her simple answer was rocking Selmak's world.

No... It couldn't be... The odds against this were _huge_... He had to be sure before he believed it. He tried to keep calm as he started writing again.

"**Was your father's name Jacob?**" This time he waited not so patiently for her answer. The suspense was killing him. He had to know.

"Yeah," Maria told him. "How'd you know who my father is?"

Selmak was silent for so long that Maria began to wonder if something was wrong.

"**I know your father well, very well. He is my host.**" Selmak answered simply, wondering if he was going to go into a state of shock. There was no denying it now. But still, in a word he learned from Jacob: _whoa_.

Maria stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing.

"Ha! Great joke dude!" So she didn't believe him, Selmak thought. He was having a hard time believing it himself.

"**I assure you that I am not joking. Your father, Jacob Carter, is my host.**"

It took Maria a minute before it sank in that he was being serious.

"Say _what?-!_'" She exclaimed, almost jumping up. Her father was- what was that word- a Tok'ra? No freakin' way. That's where her father was, on an alien planet somewhere? He'd left them for _that_? She was almost angry with Selmak. Almost.

"I almost don't believe this," she said a little sadly to Selmak. "He left without so much as a goodbye to me. I was so worried about him, because he had cancer, and he just left me like _that._" The pain she'd buried for the past several months came back, and Maria looked away from Selmak so he wouldn't see her so upset. Upset and relieved, because her father was alive.

Selmak slithered over so that he was in front of her and wrote in the dirt again.

"**He didn't mean to hurt you. Even though he never really had much time to tell me about you, I could tell he was worried for you, as well. Everytime he comes back to Stargate Command through the Stargate, he asks Samantha how your doing, wishing that he could talk to you. He-**" Maria cut him off.

"My _sister_ is involved in this?-! Am I the only one in this family that wasn't told anything? The only one not _involved_? The one that was _lied_ too?" She cried angrily, realizing that all this time her sister had been lying to her about being in the air force and working on satellites. It was just a cover story. Even though she knew now that her sister had a reason for keeping the truth from her, and probably didn't even have a choice anyway, she was still upset. Though she was trying to calm down.

Selmak wrote nothing for awhile, probably wondering if she was done.

"I'm sorry, Selmak," Maria apologized. "This is just hard for me to believe, you know? What does my sister do there anyway?" Curiosity was overpowering her earlier anger. Did she go through the Stargate, too? Like Selmak said her father did? Another set of a million questions popped into her head.

"**Your sister travels to other planets with a team called SG-1, which consists of three other people. Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c. Teal'c is a Jaffa, and he used to be the first prime of Apophis until he turned to the side of good. And, before you ask, a Jaffa is a person used to carry infant Goa'uld until they are ready to mature.**" He paused for a minute.

"**Your sister, combined with the others in SG-1, have saved the world, and helped us, the Tok'ra, many times before. SG-1's mission is to travel to other worlds to find some kind of technology to defeat the Goa'uld. We, your father and I, have even joined them on several of there missions. One time-**" he was about to go into the story about the retu's when Maria cut him off.

"My _sister_ saved the _world_? Whoa! This so totally rocks, Selmak! Dude, before I met you, I so never would have believed a word of that. My father-" she suddenly remembered that he had had terminal cancer. How had he been cured?

'Selmak," she began again. "What happened to my father's cancer? I know that this is kind of random." She waited to see what his answer would be.

Selmak answered immediately. "**I cured him. Symbiotes can cure most human ailments. We cure cancer all the time. Any more questions?**"

Maria shook her head. Now _that_ was cool.

"No, not really," she answered. It was getting dark, and Maria took her sandwich out of the backpack and started eating it while she waited for Selmak's reply. She finished her sandwich in three bites, wishing for more.

"**Good. So you understand everything. I just feel like I should warn you about one more thing,**" he answered. He suddenly remembered the NID. From what O'Neill had told him, it was only fair that Maria be warned of them as well.

"What is it? Can we make this brief, please? I'm getting tired." She suddenly felt ready to crash. Biking all day can do that to a person.

"**Yes, I will be brief. I, too, am tired. Moving one's tail through the dirt continually is not easy. I must warn you about the NID.**"

"What are the NID?" Maria wondered if this was yet another alien species or something.

"**They are, from what I've been told, a group of people from your government that want the Stargate shut down. They care only for their own goals, and are known for doing things that borderline the immoral to get what they want. I believe that they want to do experimentation on symbiotes, and people like Teal'c.**" Selmak tried his best to explain.

"Why are you telling me this? Do you think they could be after me or something?" Great, Maria thought, another thing to worry about on top of everything else.

"**Perhaps. It is a possibility.**" Selmak saw the worried look on Maria's face and tried to calm her.

"What would they want from me, anyway?" Maria tossed the empty plastic bag into the backpack.

"**At this point in time, I'm pretty sure that they'd want me.**" He answered.

"Why?" Maria stifled a yawn.

"**Why do you think?**"

"Oh, yeah." They wanted to do experiments. That would suck.

She yawned again, and this time Selmak saw.

"**It is getting late. You are tired, and I am tired. We should get some rest while we can,**" he told her, ending the conversation about the NID completely. Maria couldn't disagree with him on that.

"Yeah, and tomorrow I have, like, fifteen more miles to go. And my legs are sore as it is. And I need to find a rest stop with vending machines or a convenience store or something. I don't think there's any way that I could make it without more food. By the way, you can sleep in the backpack if you want."

She laid down on the ground, using her arms for a pillow.To her surprise, Selmak actually nudged the backpack toward her.

"**Use this for a pillow. I know that you expect me to sleep in it, but, truth be told, I really don't like it in there. I much prefer sleeping outside. Goodnight, Maria.**" At that, Selmak curled up next to her. Again, Maria noticed how he was kind of cute when he did that. She pulled the backpack over to her and rested her head on it.

"Goodnight to you too, Selmak. Sleep well." As she turned over and tried to get comfortable on the hard ground, she heard Selmak pure in answer.

She smiled at that as she felt herself drift off to sleep, praying that it wouldn't rain. Tomorrow was going to be a _long_, _long_ day for her and her legs. She just hoped that she wouldn't have to spend another night like this.

That's the end of chapter nine. Please, tell me what ya'll think. Sorry it took so long to update. I promise that the next chapter will be more interesting. But I probably won't be able to update for awhile, since school starts tomorrow for me. I'm going to be really busy, but I promise to update as soon as I can.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1, or any of the characters.

Chapter ten! Now I'm in the double digits! Sorry that it took me so long to update, I'm just so busy with school everything else in my life. Anyway, here goes the next chapter.

Samantha Carter's point of view:

It was late. She'd been driving for hours all over town, looking for Maria and Selmak. She was frustrated, and was ready to drive as fast as she could to the base. If she couldn't find Maria and Selmak by herself, she knew that she'd be able to get plenty of help from the same people who were looking for Selmak.

Several moments later she gave up, and was about to follow her instinct to go to the base when she looked at her gas gage. She'd driven for so long that she'd almost completely drained her tank of gas. There was no way she could make it to the base without stopping to refuel. Cars do not run on willpower, she thought, pulling into the closest gas station, not even looking at the prices.

As she stood by her car, waiting for it to refuel, she saw two teenage boys exiting the gas station convenient store. They were talking loudly, and Samantha couldn't help overhearing what they said. And what she heard filled her with dread, fear, and disgust.

"On Monday, that Maria Carter is gonna wish she'd never been born! As soon as school's over, she's dead. I'm gonna pound her until her own sister won't recognize her!" He threatened.

"Yeah," the other guy added. "I'll bet she's nothing without that fish thing! That thing practically tore my arm off," he complained. "Carter's got a sister?"

"Yeah, and she is _fine._ If she were younger, I'd make her my girlfriend." Samantha noticed that their words were slurred. They must've been drunk.

Samantha yanked the gas cord out of her car, more disgusted than she'd been in years. These jerks had hurt Maria? Why? And what the second guy said about the "snake thing" only confirmed her fears about Selmak. And it only made it worse was that two civilians like _them_ had seen him. Samantha knew that they were bound to tell others soon enough. She had to stop them, and find out what they knew about Maria and Selmak. And if they didn't tell her what she wanted to know, she'd make a citizens arrest, and drag them down to the police.

Paying as quickly as the machine would let her, she got in her car and roared up in front of the boys just as they were about to leave the parking lot. Before they could so much start to step around the car, she rolled down the window.

"I heard what you just said about Maria," Samantha had to work extremely hard to keep her anger in check. "Where is she? What did you _do_ to her? What did you mean by "fish thing"? Tell me, right now, before I make a citizen's arrest on assault charges for what you did to my sister!" She tried to sound commanding.

"I'd like to see you try," the first guy said. "Dude, this is Carter's sister."

"Yeah? You were right, she is _fine_." The two boys didn't take her seriously, probably because they were drunk, and full of themselves to boot. Samantha's anger and disgust was growing, while her patience was wearing dangerously thin. She ground her teeth together in an effort to control herself.

"Tell me! Or else!" Samantha knew that sounded lame, but it was all she could think to say.

"Or else, what?" The second boy sneered.

Samantha had no choice but to repeat her earlier threat of making a citizen's arrest on assault charges, which, just as before, only earned her taunts from the two self-centered, half-drunk jocks in front of her.

She didn't have time for this. Maria and Selmak had even less time. She'd known ever since she'd met Orlan that the NID had her house wired and bugged. They were bound to know about Maria and Selmak- it would be a miracle if they didn't. Sam just _knew_ they'd be after Selmak- Maria too. They'd probably find an excuse to take her too. And Sam wasn't about to let either Selmak or Maria be locked up.

Just as the boys started to walk away, she shoved the car door open and shot out, having no other alternative than physical force. At the sound of her approach, the boys turned, surprised.

She had them both by the collar before they could do anything, and dragged both of them, who were cursing, kicking and struggling, behind the gas station store, where and empty and abandoned lot was.

Using her level three hand- to-hand combat knowledge, she slammed them both against the wall. They struggled, but it was no use.

"Tell me!" She ordered them. "Or you'll get a hell of a lot worse than this!" When they hesitated to answer, she raised her knee threateningly, like she was about to hit the older boy where it hurt.

"Wait! I'll tell you, I swear!" The older boy relented, and began to explain so fast that Sam almost couldn't understand what he was saying. But Sam got the gist of it.

Maria had, apparently, stood up to them for some reason. So they had chased her all the way home- and then past it to the woods. It was after that that they couldn't find her- but found Selmak. Or, the "fish thing" according to the boy. It would have been funny had it been at any other time, she thought.

Anyway, they tried to capture Selmak, but then Maria had shown herself, an told them to leave the fish thing alone. The older boy told her that when he'd gone after Maria again, Selmak had bitten his ankle, then bit the other's arm. Sam glanced at the younger boy- who flinched. She could see the x-shaped mark on his arm and she almost smirked.

After that, to her anger, the older guy told her that he'd kicked Maria twice, and then they'd run away, leaving Maria and the "fish thing" behind.

"That's all we know- I swear!" He finished quickly.

Sam's anger and disgust remained, but she was a little relieved. They didn't know who Selmak was.

She had to let them go, so she dropped them. But before she let them run away, she'd given the older boy a hard knee in the chest, punched the younger one where Selmak had bitten him, and then happily knocked their heads together. For once, she didn't care if anyone found out what she'd done.

"Cowards!" She called as they ran off. "Leave my sister alone from now on!" Then she ran back to her car, started the engine, and left the gas station as fast as the speed limit would allow. She had to get back to the base, then realized it would be much faster for the others to do something if she called General Hammond. He would order an unarmed search for Maria and Selmak.

Taking out her cell-phone, she called the base, and the person who answered got General Hammond for her.

"What is it Captain? Everything okay? How's your sister?" The General, as usual, sounded calm and concerned.

"Well, Sir, that's exactly the problem. Maria is gone, and I know that Selmak is with her. I'm on my way to the SGC." She waited to let that sink into the General's head.

"What?" He sounded disbelieving. "Maria found Selmak? How? And where? Do you know where she could be going?"

"It's a long story, Sir. I'll tell you what I know." She told him about sensing the naqueda in Maria's room, the fish tank, what the teenage boys had told her- leaving out the part where she beat them to a pulp- and everything she could think of.

As soon as she had finished explaining, General Hammond came up with a plan.

"Captain Carter, you do realize that your father is the very first person I have to tell this too?"

"Yes Sir," she answered, beginning to worry about what her father's reaction would be. General Hammond continued.

"Any idea as to how he'll react to the news of his youngest daughter gone, and apparently with Selmak?"

"I know he'll be worried, Sir, and he'll probably demand to leave the SGC to join the search," she guessed as best she could. She could clearly picture her father arguing with General Hammond loudly in his office.

"That's what I thought," he answered. "I'll bring in the search teams, brief them, and send them out to search all the main roads and towns nearest to the SGC. We can search outside the perimeter of the mountains now, since a civilian is involved. We'll find them, Captain, and soon." He sounded like he was trying to reassure her.

They were interrupted by the sound of another telephone ringing.

"It's the President," General Hammond explained. Sam knew that she'd be on hold for a minute. She could hear the General's voice in the background, but couldn't make anything out. Eventually, Sam heard the General end the phone call from the president, and he got back on the phone he'd been talking to her on. Sam resumed the conversation before the General could say anything.

"Sir? What about the NID? Do they know?" She had to ask.

General Hammond sighed. "I just got a call from the President," he said, stating the obvious. "He warned me that the NID does know about Selmak, and Maria. They're searching for them as we speak."

Then the NID already had a head start. Sam's heart sank.

"We have to find them first, Sir. We both know that they'll find some excuse to take Selmak and Maria away to who-knows-where and-" she choked up. Sam's voice had been steadily rising as she got more and more upset. Her vision was blurry with unshed tears. She couldn't cry, she thought, not now. Not when General Hammond could hear. This wasn't like her, she thought, wiping her face on her sleeve.

"It's alright, Captain." General Hammond's voice was gentle. "We _will_ find them before they do. And if we don't, you have permission to call me a liar."

His joke was enough to make her crack a smile. After that, General Hammond was silent for awhile. Sam finally spoke.

"Sir, as I said, I'm on my way to the SGC. Go ahead and tell my father and everyone else. I'll be there in time to help brief the search teams."

"Good. Keep your eyes peeled on the way, Captain. I'll see you in the briefing room."

"Yes Sir," she answered. With that, they both hung up. Sam pocketed her cell phone. She drove on, scanning the road and the woods around it as she did, but seeing no sign of Maria or Selmak. She bit her lip in frustration, and sped up even more.

See? I didn't give up. In the next chapter, they'll be even more action, I promise. Please keep reviewing. As I've said before, they keep me going. :) Thanks for reading so far!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

Chapter 11. The search is on! (Dramatic: dun dun dun!) I'm running out of chapter intro ideas. Hope you enjoy it!

Maria's point of view:

Maria groaned when she felt Samantha try and wake her up, tapping her shoulder again and again. Why was her bed so hard and cold? She tried to curl up and stay warm. She felt Samantha hit her shoulder extra hard. "What the he-" she cried, sitting up. Where was she? What was going on?

Then she remembered what happened, and where she was. She was still in the outer part of the forest, near the road. Selmak had been tapping her shoulder frantically with his tail, trying to wake her up. And Sam was... somewhere. Probably looking for her.

"What?" She asked Selmak in an annoyed voice.

**Something is coming down the road, in our direction, very fast**, he wrote. Dang, he had good hearing.

"So? What's wrong with that? It's probably just some late night commuter or something. Go back to sleep, will you? You can't wake me for every passing car or truck."

**Just look out and see what's coming. I will not bother you again, unless I must.**

Maria could tell by the way he was moving around and looking at her that he was truly scared. But of what? The NID?

She cautiously poked her head over the bushes and peered out at the road. She could hear the sound of an engine, maybe even more than one. The sound got louder as they approached. She ducked down below the bush as the headlights lit up the section of road by their hiding spot. She watched through the branches as two huge, black Hummers and a camouflage colored army truck rumbled past. She saw the logo on the side of lone of the Hummers, and her stomach twisted in fear, her heart pounding.

They were the NID. And, to make matters worse, the three vehicles stopped not fifty feet down the road. The doors of the three vehicles opened, and men poured out, then gathered together in the middle of the road. They were dressed like the military, not to mention _armed_ like the military, from what she could see.

An older looking man in a black suit and tie addressed them, and Maria strained to hear what he was saying.

"Alright, men, this is a grab-and-go mission. The girl, Maria Carter, is on the run with an alien, and was last seen in this general area by one of our satellites. You are to find them, and bring them back to headquarters. Go!" He barked. The men slowly started to fan out into the woods, away from them. But soon they'd turn around and go the opposite direction, toward them.

Maria swore silently and looked at Selmak. "What do we do? Run?" She covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to shriek.

**No, they will see us**, he wrote. He quickly looked around. **They are looking for us on the ground. Try climbing a tree, very high. They will not be looking for us up there.**

Maria admired him, once again, for being able to stay so calm in dangerous situations. She nodded, then motioned for him to get back in the backpack. He did, and she zipped it up as quietly as possible. Then she put it on, still kneeling. She looked around for a tree she could climb easily. It was almost too dark to see.

She spotted a tall cypress tree not too far away. She crawled until she was right beside the trunk, and she slowly stood up, carefully to keep the trunk between her and the men.

She hadn't climbed a tree in years, she thought, slowly reaching up and grabbing the lowest branch. She hoped she could still climb as well as she used to. She braced one foot against the trunk, then put her other foot above it, using the friction to push herself up, then she swung herself over another branch, so she wound up sitting on it. So far, so good, she thought.

Before she moved again, she glanced at the NID men They were still heading away from them. She stood up on the branch, holding on to the surrounding branches for balance. She needed to get much higher up. She was only about five feet from the ground. So she started to climb, careful to use only the branches that she was sure was strong enough to take her weight. She figured she needed to get at least three-fourths up the tree before she stopped. It was a good thing she wasn't afraid of heights, she thought.

Suddenly, a large twig snapped off the branch she was standing on, and she froze, her head ducked down. But nobody seemed to hear. A few excruciatingly long moments later, she sighed quietly in relief, and continued her climb.

Finally, she came to a stop, and rested on a sturdy looking, thick branch. She started to lean against the trunk, then remembered Selmak was still in the backpack and immediately sat up. She had almost crushed him!

She took off her backpack carefully and, setting it in front of her on the branch between her knees, unzipped it quietly. Selmak poked his head out, looked around for a moment, then looked at her. He cocked his head to the side, and Maria figured he had a question.

"I think we're okay here, for now. Do you think we should go higher up?" She whispered.

Selmak shook his head, then cocked it to the side again, which meant she hadn't answered his question. She wished that there was something he could write on, but there wasn't, unless he wanted to spell it out with leaves. But that would be too risky.

"Are you trying to ask how high we are? Or how long are we going to be up here? If it's the first question, stay upright. It it's the second question, go back down inside the backpack." And if it was neither...? Maria was out of ideas.

Selmak stayed where he was, his head no longer cocked to the side. So he meant the first question. Maria looked down at the ground, trying to estimate.

"I don't know, maybe about twenty-five to thirty feet, I guess. Are you going to go back to sleep?" Maria was tired, and hoped she could sleep without falling out of the tree, or being seen.

Selmak nodded, and sank down into the backpack. He looked up at her as she zipped up the backpack all the way, except for a small opening so he could breath. He didn't look happy at being shut up.

"Sorry," she explained, patting one side of the backpack lightly. " I know you don't like it in there, but if we have to move fast, I don't want you to fall out." She heard a cross between a growl and a hissing noise come from Selmak.

"Fine," she said, too tired to bother being patient. "Be ungrateful. See if I care." With that, she hung the backpack on another branch, out of sight from the searchers. She stretched her legs out, slumped against the trunk, pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head, crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and waited for sleep to come.

Samantha's point of view:

Samantha watched to see what Garshaw's, Martouf's, and her father's reaction would be as General Hammond explained the news of Maria and Selmak, and the NID to them.

All three Tok'ra looked extremely surprised, and Jacob looked worried, more than the others, for obvious reasons. Garshaw spoke first.

"How viable is this information, General Hammond? We cannot just run off, only to find it was a false lead. There is no time for that, not with this NID involved."

"I received a call from the President confirming Samantha Carter's story. Maria Carter found Selmak, and we can be pretty sure that they're trying to make their way here. That's the good news. The bad news is, as you know, that the NID is after them both."

"And how would Maria get here? It is a long way from your home, correct?" Martouf spoke next.

"She took her bike, a man-powered mode of transportation," Samantha explained. "And, yes, it is a long way to get here. Twenty-five miles. What makes it worse is the terrain. It's uneven and hilly around the mountain area."

"Wow. Tough kid." Colonel O'Neil stated, leaning back in his chair, relaxed as usual.

"I know she is," Jacob finally spoke. "She's a Carter." He stated proudly. He turned to General Hammond. "George, I know it goes against every rule here, but I need to join the search teams," he was about to go on when General Hammond interrupted him.

"I insist on it, Jacob. I'd do the same for my granddaughters." General Hammond spoke to all three Tok'ra. "All three of you may go. You'll join SG-1 in the search in exactly fifteen minutes."

Her father looked almost like he couldn't believe his ears. He'd been expecting an argument over it.

"Thanks George," he said. The two men shook hands.

"Yes, thank you very much General Hammond, and Samantha Carter," Garshaw spoke.

Samantha smiled at her. "Anytime," she said. She saw Martouf smile, as well.

"Dismissed." General Hammond told told them. Everyone stood up to prepare for the search.

Martouf walked over to Samantha, smiling. As he reached her, his head dropped, so Lantash, his symbiote, was in control.

"Captain Carter, it's good to have a chance to speak with you. And I must say, it is truly a remarkable coincidence that your sister was the one to find Selmak."

Sam nodded. " Yeah, it is. I guess it's a small world after all." She always wanted to say that.

"I do not understand what you mean," Lantash looked confused.

"Oh," Samantha tried to think of a way to explain it, but couldn't. Where was Danial and his many explanations for things when she needed him?

"That's a little hard to explain." Lantash left it at that and changed the subject.

"What is your sister's age? General Hammond did not say," he asked.

"She's sixteen," Samantha answered.

Lantash nodded, thinking about something.

General Hammond called out, "Five minutes, people."

Samantha had gotten prepared as soon as she arrived at the base a couple of hours ago, so she just had to wait for everyone else to get ready.

Lantash ducked his head again, giving Martouf control. He smiled at her.

"Don't worry, Captain Carter. I'm sure we will find your sister, and Selmak. Although, Lantash is worried for them, because of this NID."

"Me too," she admitted, glad she wasn't the only one worried.

Martouf was about to say something, but everyone was filing back into the room, and General Hammond entered.

Samantha noticed how tired the General looked, not to mention everyone else. They'd gotten no sleep that night.

General Hammond spoke.

"If everyone is ready, I suggest that we move out immediately. We can't afford to waste any more time." With that, everyone headed out. They'd be in military trucks, with no weapons. This was a search and rescue mission.

Samantha glanced over to Garshaw, her father, and Martouf-who had gone over to them a moment ago. She noticed that Garshaw and Martouf looked almost excited at the prospect of leaving the SGC. She remembered that they'd never seen anything outside of the SGC before, and wondered what they'd think.

They took the elevator to the surface, then entered the section of the indoor parking lot where the military trucks were. Samantha, the rest of SG-1, Garshaw, Martouf, and her father all piled into one. The rest of the search teams took a few others.

When the truck engine started Garshaw and Martouf jumped. She saw that her father couldn't help but grin at their reaction.

"What is this device powered by?" Garshaw asked, as they rumbled out of the base and onto the road.

"Fossil fuels. In this case, petroleum. Also known as gasoline," Danial explained.

"Is this 'gasoline' flammable, as a mark I saw on the side of this device stated?" She pressed.

"Um, yes. That's why we use it," Danial answered. Garshaw did not look happy. Thankfully, Jacob changed the subject.

"Where's the NID searching?" He directed the question at General Hammond.

"About fifteen miles away. We're headed there now, of course. According to what the President told me, the NID satellite last spotted Maria in that general area, before it lost the signal."

Her father nodded, thinking.

"Why do they get a satellite?" Colonel O'Neil half-asked, half-whined. He was completely relaxed in his seat, with his legs stretched out in front of him, his head leaning back, eyes shut. When no one answered him, he opened one eye and looked at Samantha.

She sighed. "They have a lot more money than we do, Sir," she stated the obvious.

Satisfied that someone had answered him, Colonel O'Neil shut his one open eye.

It was almost dawn by then. Everyone was tired, and had a lot to think about, so Samantha wasn't surprised when no one spoke again for the rest of the ride.

Please read and review! Hoped you liked it!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

Sorry to take so long to update, but I've been really busy lately. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. By the way, about the last chapter, I know cypress trees don't grow in Colorado, but it was the only way I could make the story work, so just pretend the Stargate being nearby had something to do with it.

Maria's point of view:

Maria managed to sleep lightly for about an hour and a half, but then she woke with a start when she heard someone shouting. She was lucky she hadn't lost her balance yet, she thought vaguely as she looked around. Had someone seen her up in the tree? Her worry and fears from earlier returned, and she clutched one of the branches so hard her knuckles turned white. She was a little surprised that the men where still so close.

But the shouting wasn't because someone had seen her, it was because more camo-colored army vehicles were coming. They didn't have a logo. She spotted the man in the suit again, and he did not look happy at the new arrivals. She was itching to know who was coming as she watched the trucks slow to a stop at about the same place the NID had. More people got out, most were more searchers. But another group of people got out of one of the trucks, and they didn't look like searchers. A couple of them looked familiar, but they were too far away for her to see who they were. One of them was bald, and looked like he was in charge of the group. Five of them were dressed in green army outfits, while another three were dressed all in brown. Weird, she thought.

The man in the suit walked over to the bald man angrily.

"You have no right to be here!" He cried angrily, and loudly. She could hear him easily. "This is our jurisdiction. A juvenile civilian is involved," he stated just as loudly.

I am _not_ a juvenile! Maria thought, upset.

The bald man remained calm. "That 'juvenile' is Captain Samantha Carter's sister, and Jacob Carter's daughter. That's more than enough of a reason for us to be here. This is a family matter."

The rest of the group spread out, and walked down the road, _in her direction_.

Was Samantha here? And her dad? Hope filled her. This guy seemed to be on her side, and she wondered if she should make herself known, then thought better of it. What if he wasn't what he appeared to be?

She saw that Selmak was awake, and moving around like he was desperate to get out, making the backpack sway. She grabbed the backpack and unzipped it.

Selmak's head shot out, and he let out a rather quiet high pitched squeak. Maybe he knew who the bald man was.

"Do you know who that is?" She asked quietly, pointing at the bald man. She tried to calm him down. He moved his head up and down, silently screaming yes at her.

"Is he a good guy? Will he help us?"

Selmak repeated his savage nod. Finally, help had arrived at last. She looked out toward the road and squinted, trying to see if Sam and her father were there

Her heart soared with relief when she saw that one of the ones that looked familiar was, in fact, Sam.

"Sam's here!" She whispered. "Get down in the backpack, I'm gonna let them know I'm here," she told him. Selmak obeyed, and she zipped up the backpack.

She hesitated for a moment, but decided to call out to her sister, despite the risk. Her hunger and tiredness must have been getting the best of her, she thought vaguely. "Sam! Sam! I'm up here! I've got Selmak!"

As soon as she said that, they all turned and looked up at her. Everyone started running, and she was about to climb down when one of the NID reached the tree first. Oh, give up already, she thought.

The man started to climb up the tree. "You're to come with me for questioning. The alien too. Come down now! I order you!"

What a freaking jerk, she thought, angered by the way he talked to her.

"I don't have to listen to you, NID clown!" She called, not moving.

The man dropped to the ground, and before anyone could stop him, he raised his gun, clearly having no tolerance for her.

"Don't make me shoot you!" He yelled.

"No!" She heard Sam scream. She was running again. "Don't shoot her, even if you miss, she'll fall!"

Her sister was almost to the tree, as well as the others in her group. They stopped about ten feet away. She gasped when she saw that her father was one of the ones dressed in brown. He kept running, until he slowed, and looked like he was trying to sneak up on him. No one made a sound, or moved to stop him.

"Maria Carter, I order you to come down!" The man aimed at her. She tried to get to the other side of the trunk of the tree to protect herself, hanging the backpack on another branch a safe distance from herself.

"I'll come down when you and the rest of you NID goons who've been after me leave!" She tried not to let her fear show.

The man ignored her comment. "Last chance!" He hollered. She looked at her father's face. He was enraged at the man threatening to shoot her.

With no warning, her dad grabbed for the gun, but missed, startling the man, and the gun went off.

Her left arm exploded in pain, and she screamed, losing her balance. She started to fall. She vaguely registered hearing other people screaming, but she was in too much pain to care. She landed on her back, her head hitting the ground directly after. Her last thought was a panicked realization that she had a pretty good chance of dying from this. Please, no... She saw her sister, father, and several others run over to her, just as everything went black.

Samantha's point of view:

Samantha screamed when the gun went off, then watched, helpless, as her little sister fell from the tree and hit the ground with a sickening thud. She ran over to her, her dad alongside. He hadn't given the man with the gun a second thought.

They watched as Maria's eyes closed slowly, and her upper arm and shoulder was red with blood, and still bleeding profusely.

"Maria," she choked. It took every ounce of her military training not to cry, and focus on getting Maria help. She had to stop the bleeding, she thought, leaning on the wound. Her father put his hands on top of hers and leaned on Maria, too.

"Call an ambulance!" She heard someone yell. But the nearest hospital was almost an hour away. By the time she got there, it'd be too late.

"No! We need to get her back to the SGC! The nearest hospital is too far away!"

Garshaw, Martouf, and General Hammond ran over. The General called for one of the trucks to be brought over, which was done immediately. Martouf looked up into the tree, where Selmak, still in the backpack, was fighting to get out and shrieking.

"I will get Selmak," he stated. Samantha wanted to tell him to stay and help with Maria, but knew that Martouf and Garshaw cared just as much about Selmak as she did about Maria.

"Be careful," Garshaw cautioned him. Martouf nodded, then started to climb up the tree.

Samantha looked at her sister, who by then was starting to look paler from blood loss.

Garshaw, General Hammond, and herself gently lifted Maria, while her father jumped up into the truck. They raised Maria up to him, and he laid her out flat on the seat.

"Everyone in. We're heading back to the SGC," General Hammond called. Martouf had long since reached Selmak, then climbed down. He tried to calm the agitated and frightened symbiote, talking to him, explaining what was going on. It worked. Selmak was still and quiet by the time Martouf was in the truck.

Everyone got in. Most sat where they had before, except for her father and herself. She knelt on the floor, beside Maria, while her father sat on the seat, by her head. They both kept one hand pressed firmly down on her arm. It did little to stop the bleeding.

Guilt suddenly twisted in Samantha's stomach. This is my fault, she thought.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she said, fighting back tears again, staring at the floor of the truck. "If I had just gone home that night, Maria'd be fine right now. I-" her father cut her off.

"Don't blame yourself. We all made mistakes. I shouldn't have tried to grab the gun," he stopped when Selmak let out some kind of noise from inside the backpack. The noise sounded sad, quiet.

"Selmak says that he is also to blame. He says that he should have stayed hidden. But Sel," he directed his attention to Selmak. "If you had stayed hidden, we might never have found you. We weren't allowed to search outside of the area around the mountain, before we learned about Maria."

Selmak made another noise, and the backpack moved as Selmak did.

"He says that doesn't justify Maria being hurt," he translated again.

Garshaw suddenly interrupted. "You and Selmak should blend when we return to the base," she stated.

Her father nodded, saying nothing. He brushed Maria's hair out of her face with his free hand. Samantha saw that his age was starting to show. His face was more wrinkled than usual, he was shaking from fear of losing Maria.

"She's a pretty tough kid, Jacob. She'll pull through. And can't we go any faster? We're the military for crying out loud!" Colonel O'Neil tried to cheer them up. Although, truth be told, seeing Maria like this was making him think of Charlie, his own son, who had accidentally shot himself. He'd never really gotten over it. This was like a nightmarish allegory to him. He just hoped it ended better for Maria than it had for Charlie.

"Speed it up," General Hammond told the driver. He obeyed.

Nobody spoke for the next few minutes, until Martouf suddenly sat straight up.

"Perhaps we should return to our home planet and find a symbiote for her. She will heal much faster," he almost added that she would be a great spy, but thought better of it.

Her father immediately shook his head. "No. Human medical care will cure her wound just fine. She has her whole life ahead of her. She's got high school and friends, and her sister. She's safer here."

"Except for those two senior guys who chased her into the woods in the first place," Samantha added. "They seriously seemed to want to hurt her."

"Why?" Danial asked.

"She broke one of their rules. You know how seniors can tell underclassmen what to do."

Her father sighed and shook his head.

"This does not seem right to me. Should not all the students be equal?" Teal'c spoke for the first time.

"I know it's not right, Teal'c. But the seniors rule the school They're the oldest," he added so Garshaw and Martouf would have some understanding of the conversation.

They were just arriving at the base, and when Samantha untied the back flap of the truck, she saw that Doctor Frasier and a medical team were already waiting. Somebody in another truck must have called ahead.

The truck slowed to a stop, and the medical team ran forward with a wheeled stretcher. Everyone climbed out. Without a word, Samantha and her father carefully moved Maria onto the stretcher. Doctor Frasier took one look at Maria and shouted orders, one of which was to get her to surgery, and fast.

The team ran off, taking Maria with them. Sam felt even more helpless than before as she watched them until they were out of sight.

General Hammond took control. "I want everyone to try and get some rest. I know everyone here, including myself, is anxious about Maria's condition. But tiring ourselves out even more won't help her." He turned his attention to Garshaw, Martouf, and her father. "All of you are welcome to our guest quarters. I'll show you there myself."

"Thank you General. We will stay until Maria has recovered. Is that alright?" Garshaw replied.

"Of course. I'll take you there now. Everyone is dismissed. Please, try and rest.

When Samantha and her father didn't move when the others did, General Hammond looked at them both.

"Please don't make me change that to an order," he waited.

"Yes, Sir. I'll see you later, Dad," she called as she walked away before any of the people left in the parking lot could get ahead of her.

"Bye Sam," her dad called back. Then he added, "I love you." Normally he wouldn't say that when others could hear, but this was different.

"Love you too," she called, stepping into one of the elevators. She pressed the button that would take her to the level he quarters were on, as well as the level the medical section was on. She didn't want to go to her quarters, but she had no choice.

Once inside the small room she rarely used to sleep in, she peeled off the blood stained gloves she wore, and the tears started again. How could they just sit there while Maria was in danger of dying? There was nothing she could do, she thought, angry with herself. This was her fault, she still blamed herself. She thought of her father for a moment, who was probably about to blend with Selmak again at that moment. He blamed himself, but Samantha didn't believe that he was to blame for this.

Unable to take it any longer, she kicked a metal trash can over, sending flying across the room. It crashed into the wall with a loud crash, but she didn't care. She sank down on the single twin sized bed, her head in her hands, crying. She laid down on her stomach, and she buried her face in the rough, green colored cover on the bed. She cried herself to sleep. If she had been able to string a single coherent thought together, she would have called her actions pathetic. But at the moment, she didn't care.

Doctor Frasier's point of view:

She'd worked for the past five hours on Maria's arm. Taking out the bullet was easy, but finding it was what had taken most of the time. And what made matters worse was that the bullet had hit a major artery, but not directly. If it had, Maria wouldn't have made it to the base. But it didn't, so she had a chance. Once the bullet was out, she'd given her blood from the blood donation supply they had, and it was enough to get her blood level up to a safe level. After that, she'd given Maria something to counter the shock. She was lucky she didn't have a concussion, just a really large, bruised bump on her head. She'd checked that carefully too.

They'd taken her out of the ICU after about an hour, when they were sure she wouldn't have any other problems, and put her in the normal medical treatment section. Now all they could do was wait for her to recover, and pray that there weren't any complications later on.

Doctor Frasier had always hated to see someone so young be so injured, or sick. She remembered Cassandra, who was now her adopted daughter, and "Charlie", the boy who had been hastily built by a retu. They had pulled through, despite the odds against them. That's what gave her hope for Maria.

She'd better let General Hammond know that Maria was now stable, and that visitors were allowed, even though she was unconscious. Jacob had dropped by on his way to the guest quarters, giving to one of the orderlies that he was to be told whenever Maria's condition was stable, and she was more than glad to do so.

I know some of you are bound to hate me for what I had happen, but if you don't like it, don't read it anymore. If you liked it, please review. I hope you liked it. I'll update soon, happy Thanksgiving. :)


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

Chapter 13 is finally here! Sorry to take so long to update. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Samantha's point of view:

Samantha woke up, immediately wide awake when she heard General Hammond announce over the intercom that Maria was stable, and allowed visitors, even though she wasn't awake yet.

She practically flew down to the infirmary, glad to finally hear some good news. When she got there, she saw Doctor Frasier standing next to Maria, who was lying, still unconscious, in one of the hospital beds. Her arm was bandaged, and so was a part of the back of her head. She looked better than she had. She wasn't pale anymore, and she didn't look dirty like she had before.

Her father, Garshaw, Martouf, General Hammond, and the rest of SG-1 came in almost right behind her. The group gathered around her silently, studying her, thinking.

"How is she, Doc?" Colonel O'Neill asked with his usual abbreviation.

"She's stable, Sir. I had to give her a blood donation, and I gave her something to counter the shock. The bullet nicked a main artery. It was lodged so deep, it almost hit her bone. Fortunately, it didn't. The bad news is that there's muscle damage, and that takes longer to heal. She doesn't have a concussion, thank goodness. But she is going to have a nasty headache when she wakes up. If nothing goes wrong, I expect her to make a full recovery. She should be well enough to go home in about a week, maybe a little longer."

"When should she wake up?" Samantha asked. Everyone looked relieved at the good news.

Doctor Frasier thought a minute, estimating the time it would take.

"It could be anywhere between right now to an hour. An hour- and-a-half, at the most. I'll be right back," she explained. She quickly left the room, into another part of the infirmary.

"This is certainly good news," Garshaw commented. "I wish that we could do something for her." She suddenly turned to Samantha and her father.

"What does Maria enjoy? The sciences, as you do, Samantha? Or something else?" She was thinking of the crystals that made up the tunnels the Tok'ra hid in, and Samantha's fascination with them. If that was what Maria was interested in, then she'd bring her one to keep. If General Hammond allowed her too, of course.

"No," said a weak voice behind them. "I don't like science, I like World Geography, my favorite class."

Everyone spun and stared at Maria. She was awake!

Maria's point of view:

Maria felt herself slowly drift back into consciousness. Her head was throbbing; it felt like someone had hit her with a sledge hammer. Her arm was sore, really badly, and it was hard to move it. She heard people talking about her. She recognized Sam's voice, but no one else's that she heard. She heard someone ask if she liked science. She opened her eyes as she answered that she didn't like science, she liked World Geography. Glancing around, she thought that she must've been in a hospital. A military one, at that.

Everyone turned and stared at her. She saw her sister and her dad. She was still drowsy, and a little confused.

"Where am I? What happened? And where's Selmak? Is he okay?"

"_I'm here_," her dad said in a really strange voice. He lowered himself so he was eye level with her. His eyes glowed as he spoke.

"What the frick, dude?" Maria yelped and leaned away from him. _That_ was unnatural. "You're not Selmak, you're my Dad." She was confused. She knew that her dad was Selmak's host, but she had no clue how it worked.

He looked confused for a moment himself, then he looked like he remembered what he needed to.

"_I forgot to explain that a Tok'ra symbiote, myself, in this case, can speak through a host. We can control the host's body for as long as they allow. Our eyes flash when we take control. Surely I told you something about that?" _He continued to speak with that strange voice.

"Oh, yeah," Maria remembered. "You only told me that you take willing human hosts, and enter through the mouth. You share the body equally."

"Fast learner," one of the men said. His name tag read: "O'Neill"

Selmak smiled at her. "_Exactly. Your father wishes to speak._" His head dropped, and when he brought his head up, he was grinning.

"I missed you, kid. How're you feeling?" He stood up.

"Missed you too. My head is killing me, my arm too. For the second time, where am I?"

"You're at the SGC. You know what that is, don't you?" The bald man spoke up. "I'm General Hammond," he explained.

"Is it in the Cheyenne Mountains?" She wanted to be sure that it was what Selmak had told her about.

"Yes," he answered.

"Then yeah, I know what the SGC is. Selmak told me about you." She winced as she moved her head a little. She wanted to talk with her dad more, but she equally wanted to know who everyone around her was.

"So who are ya'll?" She asked everyone in general.

The woman dressed in brown, rough-looking clothes stepped forward, as well as the other man, dressed the same way.

"_I am Grand Councilor Garshaw_," she introduced herself. Grand Councilor? Was she the leader? "_And this is Martouf. We, too, are Tok'ra, like your father_." As Garshaw spoke, Martouf smiled. She smiled back, vaguely thinking him handsome.

"That's cool," she said. "By Grand Councilor, do you mean that you're the leader of the Tok'ra?" She felt like she was asking a stupid question.

"_In a sense, I am. I'm a member of the Grand Council._"

"That must rock. You came here for Selmak, right?" Another stupid question, she thought.

"Yes, we did. And we are very grateful to you for finding him." Martouf answered her. His voice was normal-sounding, while Garshaw's voice was like Selmak's. Martouf must've been the host.

"You're welcome. It was a trip, finding him and all, I have to tell you," she said.

Samantha suddenly cleared her throat, tilting her head at the others.

"Wait," Maria said before they could be introduced. "Lemme' guess," she thought a minute, remembering when Selmak had told her about Sam's team members, SG-1.

"Are ya'll the rest of SG-1? The one's who've saved the world, like, well, a lot?" Gee, articulate, huh?

"Yeahsureyoubetcha," the man she figured was Colonel O'Neill answered. He sure was casual, for someone in the military. She noticed Sam's smile, even though she tried to hide it.

General Hammond spoke, smiling himself.

"This is Colonel O'Neill," he introduced them. "Captain Carter, your sister," then he gestured to the other two men.

Maria guessed before General Hammond could introduce them.

"And these are Danial Jackson and Teal'c, right?" The two men smiled.

"We are indeed, Maria Carter. You have helped up a great deal." Teal'c nodded his head slowly, like he was thanking her again.

"You're welcome. Again." She replied, starting to feel herself blush from embarrassment. "Come on, ya'll. I didn't do that much," she added. She saw Sam roll her eyes. What?

"_Yes, you did_," her father spoke, although Selmak was in control. "_Let's review. You rescued me from those two boys, and the polluted pond. You brought me to your home and let me stay in your-what was it?- fish tank overnight. Then you rode, with me in your backpack, ten miles, trying to get here. When the NID came, you hid __in a tree. Then, as everyone knows, the next morning you showed yourself and got shot for disobeying an NID officer. You did in fact do much, and yet you ask for nothing._"

Well, if you put it that way... She did do a lot, didn't she?

"So what happened with the NID after I was shot? Who got Selmak down from the tree? By the way, Selmak, dude, I'm so sorry I had to keep you shut up in that backpack. I know you didn't like it."

Selmak looked like he wanted to laugh. "_It's fine. It was necessary_."

"I got him down," Martouf answered her question.

"I was just wondering." Her only concern other than the pain from her injuries was if the NID would come after them again.

"Will the NID keep trying to arrest me?" She had to know.

General Hammond answered her. "No. They can't arrest you now. The bad news is that they still want to bring you in for questioning. And I doubt they'll be nice about it," he paused for a moment to let that sink in. What's the difference, Maria asked in her mind, between being arrested and being "brought in for questioning?" Not much, she figured. So she wasn't totally free.

"Fortunately," he continued, giving her hope. "you can't be brought there without parental permission."

Everyone looked at her dad, or, more like, Selmak.

"_Jacob says that there's no way she's going. They have caused her enough pain as is,_" he spoke for her father. Everyone smiled.

"Awesome," Maria told him thankfully. " Speaking of pain and injury, how long am I going to be here? And if I could have something for the pain, that'd be a help."

A female doctor she hadn't seen before walked into the room.

"Hey," she said. "Sorry to take so long. I heard you were awake. This'll help with the pain. I'm Doctor Frasier," she explained as she injected something into the I. V. that was in her left arm.

"You gave everyone quite a scare earlier," she said.

"So I've been told. How long should I be here?" She hoped it'd be awhile, and yet she didn't. She'd miss school, but then again, how many teenagers got to be in a top secret military base? And meet, for lack of a better term, aliens?

"A week at the least," Doctor Frasier replied, studying her.

"I don't know whether to groan or be glad that I'll miss school. I'm gonna have a ton of makeup work when I get back."

"It's a vacation. Enjoy it," Colonel O'Neill told her. They both grinned.

"Yes Sir," she said, half-joking. They laughed. She would have said more, but Doctor Frasier spoke before she could.

"I'm sorry to have to break this party up," she addressed everyone. "But Maria needs her rest. Family only for right now. Everybody else, out, please. You can visit her later, but not all together."

Maria wanted to protest, but thought better of it. She wanted them to stay, they were... cool. Everyone looked like they felt the same, but slowly started to leave. Except for Sam and her Dad.

"Guess I'll see ya'll later?" Maria asked, hoping they'd come back.

"_Of course. Recover quickly, Maria Carter,_" Garshaw replied. Everyone said their goodbyes and left the infirmary. General Hammond was the last out, besides Doctor Frasier.

Now she could talk to her Dad, and sister. She had so many questions, but she didn't know where to start.

"How long was I out?" She'd start off simple, since it was a little awkward.

"Almost seven hours," Sam answered. "Are you feeling any better? Does it still hurt?"

Maria moved her head experimentally. It didn't hurt nearly as much, but she couldn't tell exactly how her left arm felt, since she couldn't move it because of the bandages.

"It's a lot better. Did anybody find my bike?" Her bike was her only way of getting around when Sam wasn't home.

The way their faces looked told her that they'd forgotten it, or something.

"No, no one found it. We were too worried about you. Sorry," Sam told her. "We'll have to see if we can find it on the way home."

"But that's in a week," Maria said, trying not to sound like she was whining. "It'll be ruined if it rains. I think I'll just get a new one, if we can't get the bike soon. Okay?" Not wanting to sound immature, she moved on.

"And my backpack? Selmak, is it still in one piece, or did you chew a hole in it?" She half-joked again.

Selmak, who was still in control, sighed. "_I did not chew a hole in the backpack,_" he said defensively. "_But in my panic I did do significant damage to the inside of it. I do not believe that it is able to sustain any kind of weight in it at all now. My apologies._" Maria didn't think she'd ever get used to that voice. It was just so, so... unnatural.

"It's alright," she told him. She looked at Sam. "Sam, sis, friend, pal, amiga, can I borrow your credit card?" All three of them laughed. Or, all four, really.

"I'll get you what you need. Don't worry," Sam answered. They were silent for a minute.

"Hey, Selmak, can I talk to my dad?" She suddenly thought of something she wanted to ask him.

"_Of course_," Selmak answered. He lowered his head, so when he looked up, her dad was the one in control. He smiled at her.

"Hey Dad? What's it like, you know, being a Tok'ra? Switching control of your body back and forth and all? I mean, does it feel weird, or, or..." She trailed off, unsure of how exactly to phrase her questions.

Her dad thought a minute, taking her seriously.

"I'll be honest with you. You never quite get used to not being the one moving your body. It's like, you can feel yourself moving and talking, but it's not you doing it. It's an experience that you can't really understand until you've tried it." He explained as best he could.

"Like high school," Maria offered her own example. Everyone laughed.

"Yeah, like high school," he replied. "Speaking of which, I heard about the two seniors who chased you the day you found Selmak. What happened to make them chase you?" He wasn't angry with her, Maria could tell, he was just concerned, and curious.

"I wouldn't let them cut in front of me in line for things like the vending machines, or the water fountain, or to speak with someone at the office. I've got to face them again when I go back to school, so that sucks." She felt bummed again at the thought of another confrontation with them.

To her surprise, Sam grinned at her.

"No, you don't. They won't bother you anymore, trust me."

Maria felt herself grin when she realized what Sam meant.

"You so totally beat the crap out of them, huh?"

"Yeahsureyoubetcha," Sam replied. They laughed at Sam's imitation of Colonel O'Neill.

Their dad turned to face Sam. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Jack's started to rub off on you," he teased.

"Maybe," Sam admitted, looking embarrassed. She changed the subject.

"You know, Maria, Garshaw's pretty determined to repay you. She was just starting to ask what you liked when you woke up."

"I think I heard her," Maria answered. "But I don't want anything, really, except..." she trailed off. "I wish I could see the Stargate. It's gotta be awesome, huh?"

"Yeah, but you get used to it," Sam answered. "I'm sure General Hammond will let you see it, once Doctor Frasier lets you out of bed."

"Sweet, thanks," she replied, her eyelids starting to feel heavy. So she was tired, after all.

Her dad didn't miss it when she tried to hide a yawn.

"You need to sleep," he said gently. Maria was about to protest, but he kept going. " We'll be back later, I promise." He motioned for Sam to leave with him.

"See you later, Sam said. "I'll be sure to tell General Hammond you that you want to see the Stargate."

"Thanks," Maria called as they walked out the door, leaving her alone. She was both excited and tired at the same time. This was a lot to take in at once, she thought. But it was so cool...

She didn't even try to stay awake any longer. She just relaxed and let herself fall asleep. And for the first time in days, there was nothing she needed to worry about when she woke up.

Jacob/Selmak's point of view:

Jacob was in control as he walked alongside Sam down the hallway. He was extremely happy to have Selmak back, and also because Maria was going to be fine.

'And I am just as happy to be back,' Selmak told him. 'Can no one simply go out and fetch Maria's bike? I know where it is, and I could give someone directions easily.'

'True,' Jacob replied. 'But it's not really a big deal. She could use a new bike by now, anyway, I'm sure.'

Selmak saw Jacob's memories of the wobbly seat, the chain that kept slipping, the rubber handle grips deteriorating, everything Jacob had seen before he had cancer.

'So I see,' Selmak commented. 'It was lucky that nothing on the bike broke while we were trying to get here.' By now he knew the basic parts of a bike and how they worked. He was starting to get an idea, and if General Hammond gave his permission, it just might work.

He explained his idea to Jacob, who smiled. Then he laughed, but it wasn't mocking.

"What's so funny, Dad?" Sam finally spoke.

"Sel's got an idea, but for it to work, we need a few things."

"So what's his idea?" Sam persisted, wanting to know.

'Let me speak to her for a moment, Jacob,' Selmak requested. Jacob let him.

When Selmak was in control, he smiled at Samantha as he turned to go to General Hammond's office.

"_That is for me to know, and for you to find out in a week_," he teased her.

Sam grinned, even though Selmak knew she was trying not to.

This was his best plan yet, Selmak thought, chuckling as he kept going.

So, what do ya'll think? The story's almost over, I'm sorry to say, just another chapter or two. But there's a sequel coming, I promise. I know I've said this before, but if you have any constructive criticism, or if you just like it, please review.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

Here's chapter 14, enjoy!

Maria's point of view:

Maria finally woke up sometime later. She expected to find herself alone, but when she opened her eyes, she saw that she wasn't. That woman-what was her name?- Grand Councilor Garshaw, was sitting in a chair at the foot of her hospital bed. She was looking around curiously, like she wanted to get a better look at everything. She hadn't noticed that Maria had awakened.

"You act like you've never been in a hospital before, Ma'am," Maria commented, smirking. Garshaw looked startled, then she smiled.

"Truth be told, I have not," she spoke with the strange voice again. "Or, at least, not very often. The Tok'ra have no need of them, remember? And please, just call me Garshaw." She looked like she pitied Maria. "It must be such a nuisance, having those, those..." She motioned to the iv's in Maria's arm, and the wires that connected the heart monitor to her chest and neck.

"Iv's," Maria told her.

"Yes, the iv's. Do the needles not hurt?"

Maria shook her head. "Nah, the needles aren't even in there. It doesn't hurt," she explained.

"That's good," Garshaw replied. "Listen, I want to talk with you about what you did for Selmak. Surely there is something more you want than to just see the Stargate?" She sounded disbelieving.

"Sam told you?" Maria asked, not surprised.

"Yes," Garshaw answered.

"I really don't want anything other than that. I guess to you it's an everyday thing, but for me it's a huge deal. Before all this happened, I had no clue that the Stargate even existed. You're lucky, you know. It must be so amazing to see other planets." She wondered what the Stargate looked like, having been told nothing about the way it looked by Selmak, or anyone else.

Garshaw appeared to be thinking, but her disbelieving look stayed.

"Are you _sure_ that's all you want?" She asked again.

"Well," Maria replied, "That, and a good bill of health." They both grinned.

"That's something we're all wishing for," Garshaw commented.

They both turned their heads to look when they heard the infirmary door open, and Samantha walked in.

"Grand Councilor Garshaw," Samantha greeted her, and Garshaw nodded in response, smiling faintly.

Then Samantha looked at Maria, smiling. "Hey," she said, sitting down in another chair, next to Garshaw. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good," Maria replied. "What's up? Did General Hammond say I could see the Stargate?"

Samantha nodded. "Yeah, he said yes. And Dad's planning something. I don't know what. Do you know anything, Grand Councilor?" Samantha looked at her.

Grand councilor smiled, and it was almost slyly. "Yes, I know what he's doing, but I won't tell you. They want it to be a surprise," she explained. By "they" she meant both Jacob and Selmak. "But I will say that it will be shown to you at the end of this week," she added.

Maria saw Sam roll her eyes, and Maria almost did the same. It was sort of typical for their dad to pull stuff like that. If it had been anybody else, Maria would've asked for at least some kind of hint, but she knew from the Councilor's determined look that it'd be no use asking.

"Got any guesses as to what it could be, Sam?" Maria asked, before some kind of awkward silence could fall between them.

"Not really. But we were talking about your bike right before he seemed to come up with... whatever idea he's got. And he seemed really disappointed that your bike was basically history," Samantha answered. Then she looked puzzled.

"You don't think that he's..." Maria said slowly. "Getting me a new bike?"

They instantly looked at each other and laughed out loud. Their Dad... building a bike... they'd pay money to see that. Since when was their Dad an engineer, or whatever someone who builds bikes is called?

"So that's been ruled off the list of possibilities," Maria continued, then stopped when they heard Garshaw snickering, which was a first.

"What's so funny?" Maria asked.

Garshaw managed to stop snickering and answer.

"It is most amusing, knowing something while you do not," she explained, then stood up.

"Excuse me," she said, and left, looking like she was about burst out laughing. They expected to hear her laughing out in the hall, but, strangely enough, they heard nothing.

Maria suddenly wondered why Selmak and her father had been separated. She'd never thought to ask Selmak that.

"Hey, Sam? Do you know why Dad and Selmak were apart?" She asked.

"Yeah," Sam answered. "Selmak didn't tell you?"

When Maria shook her head, Sam explained about Jacob and Selmak faking their deaths so that the gua'uld wouldn't see the Tok'ra as a major threat anymore, or at least for awhile. She also explained that Selmak had been shipped off in a small, escape-pod like craft that had coordinates for earth programmed into it, so that he could be found again.

"Then you found him, and you know the rest," Sam finished.

Maria sat there for a second, looking as impressed with the Tok'ra's plan as Sam had.

"Whoa. Dude, that's, like...," she tried to think of a way to phrase it. "A really sweet plan."

"Yeah, you're right," Sam agreed. "But we've come up with some pretty good plans ourselves, you know," she added.

Maria wondered for a second if Sam was jealous of the Tok'ra's success or something, then shut that thought down. She knew from Sam's voice that it was a statement of fact.

After a minute of silence, Maria suddenly had a thought. What was she going to tell people when she got back to school?

"Hey, Sam?" Maria asked. "What am I going to tell people if they ask what happened to me, and where I've been?"

Sam seemed to be thinking as she answered Maria.

"Truth be told, I haven't given any thought to your cover story. Maybe you could say you were in a car accident," she offered.

"Yeah, but-" Maria was about to point out a loophole in the cover story, but decided against it. People would fill in the blanks on their own.

"Never mind," she said before Sam could ask what she had been about to say. "So... what's Martouf doing?" She wondered what Garshaw and Martouf would be doing throughout the week while her dad was busy doing... whatever it was for her.

"Last time I saw him, he was eating in the mess hall," Sam answered. "He seemed fascinated with all the food here. He told me how our food is so much different from theirs."

"Yeah, Selmak told me that too. He said that they focus more on the nutritional value of food than the taste." Maria agreed. No wonder Martouf was so eager to try the food here, she thought.

They continued to talk like that for awhile. It was really nice to talk to her sister again, like they used to, before Sam had to keep the whole Stargate secret and all.

Sam told her about some of their missions, like how they found out about the Tok'ra, and another race called the Asgard. And some of the battles with the Gua'uld She also explained about finding the Stargate more than eighty years ago. She described what it was like to go through the Stargate, which sounded awesome... and sort of freaky, what with having your body demolecularized or whatever. Basically, she told Maria almost everything. Sam seemed to enjoy talking about it, going into even some of the minor details of certain events without Maria having to ask.

Maria listened to every word intently, not wanting to miss anything. She wondered if Sam was also sort of making up for the times she must've had to lie to her. Not that it mattered anymore, really.

Eventually, Sam changed the subject, though Maria could've listened to her stories about what she'd done all day. To think, all that time her sister had been doing all those things, she'd been stuck in school, completely in the dark. It was kind of scary, almost. If it hadn't been for these people, the human race would have long since been either enslaved or destroyed. Epic battles had gone down in Antarctica while she'd been, like, studying history or something.

Dude, no wonder they kept everything so hush-hush and top secret and all. If people found out about this at the wrong time, it'd cause mass panic and hysteria galore. But still, it was cool to be one of the few people who knew about it.

She also wondered how in the world she was going to be able to keep her mouth shut at school about this. But then she smiled. She'd manage... _hopefully._

Only one more chapter to go, people! I'm really, really sorry it took me so long to update! I know that not updating for a year is really ridiculous, but it's like I've just been hitting a brick wall every time I tried to write. But now I'm back. Please remember to review, and thank you to all who have reviewed already. :)

By the way, I know this chapter was kind of boring, since it was mostly just Maria and Sam talking and catching up, so I promise that chapter 15(the final chapter!) will be better.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.

This is the fifteenth and final chapter to my first fanfic Written in Sand. I want to write a sequel, but no promises. Hope you like it!

One week later:

Maria carefully stuck her bandaged arm through the sleeve of her shirt. Doctor Frasier had finally released her from the infirmary, and she could at last see everything that she'd been told about. She smiled.

All week she'd visited with her sister, and the others. Especially her father and, of course, Selmak. Selmak, she was glad to learn, had a great sense of humor, and his jokes made the week go by much easier than it probably would have.

The sound of the infirmary door opening brought her back to the present.

"Maria? You decent?" She heard Sam ask through the curtain that Maria had drawn closed around her area of the infirmary.

"Yeah," she answered, pulling the curtain back. Seeing how her older sister was dressed compared to her suddenly made her feel somewhat out of place. Her sister was wearing her green military uniform, while Maria was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that Sam had brought her from home. They were, of course, civilian cloths. Which, she figured, would make her stick out like a sore thumb. Not that she really cared much. She had more important things to think about.

Like the fact that her father would once again be leaving today.

But then she shook her head to be rid of the saddening thought.

"Is it time yet?" She asked Sam eagerly.

"Yep," she answered. "Come on. They're waiting for us up on the ground level parking lot. Dad's finally going to show us what he's been doing all week."

She and Maria had tried to pry some kind of information from those who knew what their father was doing, including Garshaw/Yosef, Martouf/Lantash, and even General Hammond. But the bunch stubbornly said not a word, the other Tok'ra being especially secretive. Whenever asked about it, they simply acted like they hadn't heard the question. Either that, or they simply smiled teasingly at them.

Maria followed her sister out of the infirmary, glad to be out. But it was then Maria realized something she hadn't before thought about. She'd long since known that they'd been underground. This base _was_ in a mountain, after all. It just hadn't struck her just how far underground they might be.

"Sam? How far underground are we, exactly," Maria asked, looking at the ceiling, which was all that stood between them and probably hundreds of tons of earth.

"We're about twenty-six stories underground. The Stargate is two levels lower than this one, on level twenty-eight," Samantha explained. She sensed her sisters' unease. "And don't worry. You get used to it pretty quick," she said to reassure her sister. "The walls aren't about to cave in any time soon."

Sam pressed the button on the elevator, and Maria had a flashback to when they both were much younger, and would've fought over who would push the button.

"Thanks," Maria replied. Knowing the irony of her life, she'd probably get used to it just when she had to leave. Then she'd feel weird under the hugeness of the sky. If she had realized this fact at the beginning of the week, she'd be fine by now, of course. But she hadn't, so she wasn't.

When the elevator arrived, they both stepped in, and this time she rushed to push the button for the floor they need before Sam, just for old time's sake.

Sam realized why Maria had done it, and rolled her eyes. But then they shared a somewhat mischievous grin, and spent several moments of the elevator ride in companionable silence, until Maria spoke.

"So... any more last minute, wild guesses you wanna let fly?"

Samantha sighed, feigning exasperation.

"You've already asked me that a hundred times this week," she pretty much whined.

"Come on, just a hundred and one more," Maria persisted.

Samantha yet again rolled her eyes, but answered anyway.

"Well... for all I know, with Selmak in his head, it could be anything from... I dunno... a metal of thanks to a nuclear reactor."

Maria couldn't help but scoff at the thought.

"A nuclear reactor? Why in the world would Dad make me a _nuclear reactor?" _She asked.

Sam shrugged. "Well, you did ask if I had any _wild _guesses," she reminded Maria as the elevator doors slid open.

Oh, yeah, Maria thought as they stepped out of the elevator.

Looking around, she saw that the gang was all there, so to speak. All three(technically six) Tok'ra were there, as well as the rest of SG-1, and General Hammond. Even Doctor Frasier had shown up to see this.

Her father-or maybe it was Selmak- stood apart from the rest of the group behind some kind of object covered by a sheet. He looked like he was trying to keep a straight face, but every once in a while the corners of his mouth would twitch upward, betraying his excitement.

There was a moment of somewhat awkward silence, until he spoke.

"Friends," he said- and Maria could tell that it was indeed Selmak speaking because of his voice- smiling.

"We've come here today to celebrate the heroic actions of Maria Carter, who is, as you know, the daughter of my host, Jacob."

Dang... he'd said it so... ceremoniously. When he'd told her that he'd be giving her the surprise, she hadn't expected anything like _this_. She'd just sort of expected him to hand over whatever it was as he told her goodbye or something like that. With not nearly this many people watching to see what her reaction would be.

She stared down at the ground, an embarrassed smile spreading across her face. Hadn't he thanked her a million times this past week already?

"Oh, come now, Selmak," she heard Garshaw cut in, which surprised her. "Can you not see how much the young woman blushes? Show her what you built."

Thank you, Garshaw, she thought. She managed to look up just in time to see Selmak _roll his eyes_ at Garshaw.

"Very well, Grand Councilor." Then his head dropped downward, and then it was her father looking at them, grinning.

"Ready to see what all this fuss is about, kid?" He asked her.

"Dad, I've been ready for this for a week," she replied.

Her answer made him laugh.

"Good answer," he commented, gripping the fabric of the sheet covering the object. "And... voila!" He cried, pulling the sheet off.

What Maria and Samantha saw next nearly made the pair fall over. Of all the... The one thing they'd ruled off the list of possibilities was the one thing he had built. A bike.

Except... it wasn't just a bike. Was that... was that _an engine?_

"Oh. My. God," Maria exclaimed. "I can't believe you did this for me! But what's that? Looks like an engine." She repeated her thoughts out loud. If this had an engine, then was it technically a motorcycle?

"Sure is," he answered. " But it's good for a one time use only. It's only to be used when absolutely necessary. For emergencies only, alright?" He gave her a look that said he really meant business.

"Yes, sir, I understand. How's it work?" Maria asked.

He motioned for her to take a closer look at the bike as he dug around in his pocket for something.

Upon closer inspection she saw that there was a hidden ignition right next to the right handlebar, well camouflaged from sight, unless you were looking for it.

A moment later he took his hand out of his pocket, and handed her the key, which she put in her own pocket.

"So, can I test it?" She asked eagerly.

Her father blinked in surprise. "Test the engine, or the bike?"

She rolled her eyes when she realized he was teasing.

"Dad! Of course I mean the bike!"

Her father nodded, and she was about to get on when Dr. Frasier cut in.

"No, Maria." She looked pointedly at her arm, which was in a sling, still healing. "You shouldn't risk straining it. You can start riding in a couple of days, okay?" She explained.

While Dr. Frasier spoke, Samantha, who'd been right next to Maria, leaned over toward their dad.

"What the heck is this thing powered by?" She demanded, her voice low.

Her father only smirked.

"Don't tell me it's-" She started to say, but he cut her off.

"Naquada, yes," he stated. "And before you start feeling left out and neglected, I have something for you as well."

He took a folder out of his pack that was next to him on the ground, and handed it to her. She flipped through it, and her eyes widened when she realized what it was.

"I realize you and Maria have been in a bit of a pinch financially, and since I won't be needing these anymore..." he explained. He'd basically given her her his bank account, and other important records related to it. She had the power of attorney over the money.

"Oh my God...Dad..." She wasn't sure what to say. "Thank you..." she managed to get out.

The two hugged.

"I'm proud of you," he told her. "I'm proud of both of you," he added when Maria joined the hug a moment later, inviting herself.

They were a family again, all together, and glad. Even without the bike and the money, the would have been just as happy.

Meanwhile, as everyone looked on, Colonel O'Neill leaned toward Daniel.

"Shouldn't we all be going "aw" or something?" He hissed in his ear, and Daniel smiled.

"Nah, it'd be way too corny," he joked back.

The family ended the hug a moment later, when several people started to applaud, each one looking a little embarrassed.

There was a moment of awkward silence before someone decided to speak.

"We must take our leave soon," Grand Councilor Garshaw reminded everyone. "Though it pains me to say it," she added.

Maria exhaled slowly in a silent protest. She didn't want her father to leave; she'd only just gotten him back.

But the Councilor was right. They'd done what they'd promised, staying for the week while she recovered, and now it was time for them to go. The Tok'ra needed its' leaders back.

So she had to let him go. But she knew-or at least hoped very much-that she'd see him again.

"What do I do with the bike for now?" She asked Sam, as several of the others started to head over to the elevators.

"Just leave it here, and we'll put it in the car later," she answered.

Maria nodded, and together the three-four-of them moved to catch up to the others.

It was a quiet ride down to level 28, but it wasn't the somber kind of quiet. Everyone had things they needed to think about.

Dr. Frasier had to head back to the infirmary when they arrived at level 28, and she gave Maria a quick hug and a smile before she left the group.

They walked through what seemed to be some kind of a control room. General Hammond stayed there, giving directions to a man sitting at one of the many computers in the room.

They went down another, short flight of stairs, and came to a large door, which slid open when a guard next to it slid a credit-card like key through a slot.

Sam suddenly smirked and nudged Maria with her elbow, who nudged her right back.

"I can't wait to see the look on your face," she hissed. But it was all in good nature.

They walked through, into a huge-_huge_- room, and Maria saw what had to be the Stargate.

"That's the Stargate?" She asked, though she already knew, studying the strange symbols all around the ring.

"Uh-huh," Sam answered, grinning.

"Just you wait," Colonel O'Neill came and stood next to her. "Next is the _really_ cool part," he hinted, hooking his thumbs in his pant pockets.

Suddenly the metal iris in the center of the Stargate opened, and a part of the Stargate started to spin. When it stopped, a section would light up, and the process would repeat. What was this thing? A giant combination lock or something? Maria smirked at the comparison.

Then the seventh symbol lit up, and a blue substance leapt out at them from the middle of the ring, making Maria jump. Sam tried and failed to hold back a laugh.

Just as soon as the blue light leapt out, it went back, leaving behind what looked like a vertical pool of shinning blue water.

"That's a wormhole?" When Maria thought of wormholes, she sort of pictured a black hole. Didn't black holes theoretically have wormholes or something like that?

This wasn't like that at all.

"Yep," Colonel O'Neill answered.

Maria turned to glare at her sister. "You didn't tell me it was gonna jump out like that! Some warning would've been nice, you know."

"Sorry, Maria," Sam apologized.

"No, you're not," Maria argued.

Meanwhile, Jacob watched, unsure whether to laugh or conk his children's heads together.

"_I take it that this is just like old times for you?_" Selmak asked Jacob.

"You have no idea," Jacob answered out loud without meaning to.

"What'd you say, Dad?" Sam and Maria looked up at him, argument over.

"Uh, nothing. Just talking to Sel. We should get going," he stated.

The trio of Tok'ra started up the ramp, Jacob giving his daughters one last hug before he moved away.

"What will the Tok'ra do now that your plan succeeded?" Daniel asked.

Jacob's head dropped, giving Selmak control. He grinned.

"The same thing we do every day, Daniel," he said dramatically. "Try and defeat the Gua'uld!"

The other Tok'ra looked at him with slight confusion. But Maria got it.

"You stole that from Pinky and the Brain," she accused, grinning back.

"So what if I did?" Selmak replied casually. He turned his attention to everyone.

"Thank you,' he said. "We look forward to seeing all of you again and working together as allies side by side."

With that-neither her Dad or Selmak liked long goodbyes-he turned and walked through the gate. Martouf and Garshaw bowed their heads in deep nods, then turned an followed Selmak.

A moment later, the Stargate shut down, and the wormhole disappeared.

Oddly enough, though, Maria didn't feel sad or whatever. Maybe because she knew now that her father was okay, and Sam didn't have to lie with cover-up stories anymore.

They turned and left the gate room, Sam putting an arm over Maria's shoulders, and Maria doing the same.

"So Sam," she started casually. "What's this I hear about you once going back in time and having to dress like a hippie?"

Sam's face turned a little red with embarrassment, and she cleared her throat.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," she lied.

"Yes, you do. Spill, please," Maria pressed.

"There's nothing to spill," Sam insisted.

"Yes, there is," Maria continued to pry.

And so they bantered back and forth, happy to have each other, sisters in arms once again.

The End.

So that's it, people. It took me, like, three years to write this thing, and now I've finally finished it. So this is a triumph for me. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm thinking about doing a sequel, but I'm not sure. By the way, I know I changed/ignored some stuff in order to write this story, so please don't nag me about how I got something wrong, unless it was spelling or something, okay? :) Please remember to review!


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